Cabinet to meet, discuss President's speech today

New Delhi: Union Cabinet will be meeting on Saturday for the first time and top on the agenda is President Pratibha Patil's speech which she has to deliver on June 4 in Parliament.

The President's address will reveal the government's agenda for the year ahead during the meeting which will be held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's the residence 7 Race Course Road.

In her speech, President Patil is likely to incorporate the government's commitment to strengthening schemes like National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (NREGA) and economic policies to be followed in the wake of global recession.

At the first meeting of the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, Sonia Gandhi made a suggestion to bring the long pending women's reservation bill at the earliest.

The government has already said that it would strive to pass the Union Budget for 2009-10 by July 31 to restore the growth momentum of the economy reeling under the impact of the global financial meltdown.