Calcutta, March 29: The Bengal government will announce a 50 per cent reservation for women in municipalities and panchayats by the end of this month, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has told a group of women Left leaders.

The quota won’t come into effect before the polls to 82 civic bodies in May-end, but the front hopes to extract political mileage out of the announcement.

Gujarat, Bihar, Kerala and Tripura have already implemented the move, cleared by the Centre last year.

“The chief minister has agreed to our demands,” CPM women’s wing leader and state secretariat member Shyamali Gupta said after a meeting with Bhattacharjee today.

The CPI’s Shyamasree Das, who was also part of the Left women’s delegation that met the chief minister, said: “I want more women to shoulder public responsibilities as they are sincere, focused and principled in their job.’’

Municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya and panchayat minister Anisur Rahman later said they would make the announcement in the House on March 31. The bill will be tabled when the budget session resumes after a break.

Even for this round of elections, the CPM leadership has asked its district units to field more women, apparently in a bid to negate anti-incumbency.