NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed confidence that the Women's Reservation Bill will be passed in Parliament.

The Government believes that equitable representation of women in the highest decision-making bodies is urgently required and it is making serious efforts to build broad-based consensus to provide equitable representation to women in State Assemblies and Parliament, he said.

Inaugurating a national workshop of voluntary organisation on ``Women's Role in Nation Building — From Panchayat to Parliament'' here on Tuesday — a day after the Government failed to arrive at a consensus on the contentious bill — organised by the Central Social Welfare Board, Dr. Singh said the United Progressive Alliance was committed to ensuring 33 per cent reservation to women in Assemblies and Parliament. The National Common Minimum Programme recognises political, legal and educational empowerment as key principles of good governance, he said.

Referring to the eluding consensus on the Bill, Dr. Singh said it was not a comment on our social and political consciousness that half the population had to reiterate its relevance to the processes of nation building while pointing out that the time had come to give due place to women in political institutions and economic processes. No nation could stand proud if it discriminates against any of its citizens, and no society could claim to be part of the modern civilised world unless it treated its women on a par with men, he said.

Similar sentiments were expressed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi who said she was keen that the Bill was introduced and passed in Parliament and hoped that the Government would be able to arrive at a consensus. Extending her support to the Bill, Ms. Gandhi said she was certain that the challenges and obstacles would be overcome.

Ms. Gandhi said that as women's issues concerned society it was important to seek the cooperation of all, including men to address them. She was certain that the amendments to the Hindu Succession Act and the Prevention from Domestic Violence Bill would be passed before the end of the current session.

Expressing concern over female foeticide, the Prime Minister called for stopping the ``unacceptable'' crime being encouraged by the widespread misuse of modern technology and its mindless commercial exploitation. He said he was convinced that the empowerment of women must begin at the very beginning, even before birth.

``This dastardly social phenomenon must be socially boycotted and legally punished,'' he said, while calling upon the citizens to come forward to put an end to this misuse of medical technology. The hazardous effect of this practice is already there for us to see in some of our most developed States and it has created a gender imbalance, which was harmful to society, he said.

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh said it was unfortunate that some people took women's empowerment as a threat. ``The time to talk about women's empowerment is over. It is time now for implementation,'' he said. People apparently had forgotten the sacrifices made by women during the British rule.

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