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Government confirms extra sittings to debate amendments to Women’s Reservation Act 2023

April 03, 2026 4 min read Polity & Governance Social Issues GS2 (Polity & Governance Social Justice)
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What Happened

  • The central government confirmed that Parliament will hold extra sittings — a three-day special session from April 16 to 18, 2026 — specifically to debate and pass amendments to the Women's Reservation Act 2023.
  • The Budget Session, instead of adjourning sine die on April 2, was placed in recess to enable reconvening for this purpose.
  • The proposed amendments aim to delink the Act's implementation from the upcoming delimitation exercise, allowing the 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies to take effect earlier than currently scheduled.
  • As the law currently stands, reservation cannot be operationalised until after a census is conducted and a delimitation exercise is completed — a process not expected before 2027-28.
  • The move has generated political debate: opposition parties including Congress and the Samajwadi Party have demanded an additional sub-quota for OBC women within the 33% reservation.

Static Topic Bridges

The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam

The Women's Reservation Act, formally known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, reserves one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Legislative Assembly — including one-third of seats already reserved for SCs and STs. It was passed in Lok Sabha with 454 votes in favour (September 20, 2023) and unanimously in Rajya Sabha with 214 votes (September 21, 2023).

  • Reservation applies to Lok Sabha, all state assemblies, and the Delhi Legislative Assembly; Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir assemblies were not included.
  • The Act's operation is contingent on: (a) a fresh census, and (b) a delimitation exercise conducted on the basis of that census.
  • Reserved seats will be rotated among constituencies after each delimitation, governed by parliamentary legislation.
  • The 15-year sunset clause means the reservation lapses after 15 years from operationalisation unless Parliament extends it.

Connection to this news: The proposed amendment seeks to remove or modify the delimitation pre-condition, enabling implementation without waiting for the census-linked delimitation scheduled for 2027-28.

Delimitation and Census — The Structural Bottleneck

Delimitation is the process of redrawing the boundaries of Lok Sabha and state assembly constituencies based on updated population data from a census. The Delimitation Commission — a statutory body under the Delimitation Act, 2002 — carries out this exercise. India has not conducted a census since 2011; the 2021 census was delayed due to COVID-19 and has still not been completed as of 2026.

  • The last delimitation exercise was conducted in 2002-08 based on the 2001 census; the resulting constituency boundaries have been in place since 2008.
  • Article 82 mandates that Parliament readjust constituencies after every census.
  • The Delimitation Commission is chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge and functions independently of the legislature and executive.
  • The OBC sub-quota demand hinges on the argument that without caste-based census data, it is impossible to properly allocate seats for OBC women.

Connection to this news: The proposed amendment attempts to bypass the delimitation requirement and is therefore constitutionally significant; any such amendment to Article 330A (inserted by the 106th Amendment) would itself require a special majority under Article 368.

Women's Representation in Indian Politics

India's record on women's representation in Parliament remains among the lowest globally. The 17th Lok Sabha (2019-24) had approximately 14.4% women members — one of the lowest among large democracies. The 18th Lok Sabha (2024-29), elected after passage of the Reservation Act, has around 13.6% women members, as the reservation has not yet come into force.

  • Globally, the average share of women in lower houses of Parliament stands at approximately 26% (Inter-Parliamentary Union data).
  • India's state assemblies also reflect low representation: the national average hovers around 9-10%.
  • Some states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh — have already implemented 50% reservation for women in panchayat elections under Article 243D.
  • The OBC issue: there is no separate OBC women's sub-quota in the current Act; critics argue this perpetuates exclusion of the most underrepresented women.

Connection to this news: The special session and proposed amendments represent an attempt to accelerate operationalisation of a law that, despite nearly unanimous parliamentary support in 2023, has not yet produced any change in women's representation.

Key Facts & Data

  • The Women's Reservation Act is the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023.
  • It reserves 33% of seats in Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly for women.
  • Passed in Lok Sabha: 454-2 on September 20, 2023; Rajya Sabha: 214-0 on September 21, 2023.
  • Implementation is contingent on census and delimitation — both pending as of April 2026.
  • Special Parliament session proposed: April 16-18, 2026, to debate amendments decoupling implementation from delimitation.
  • OBC sub-quota demand: raised by Congress, Samajwadi Party, and RJD; currently not part of the Act.
  • Women's representation in 18th Lok Sabha (current): approximately 13.6%.
  • 15-year sunset clause in the Act unless extended by Parliament.