What Happened
- The Prime Minister, addressing a gathering focused on women's empowerment, asserted that reservation for women in legislative bodies is "the need of the hour"
- The statement reaffirms the government's stance on the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, which has been passed but not yet implemented
- Implementation is contingent on the completion of the decennial census and subsequent delimitation of constituencies
- The remarks come amid ongoing debates about when and how the reservation will come into effect, with the next census still pending
Static Topic Bridges
106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023 — Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam
The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, commonly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Empowerment Salutation Act), reserves one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The amendment inserts Articles 330A and 332A into the Constitution, along with Article 334A which provides for the review and rotation of reserved constituencies after each general election within the reservation period.
- Passed by Lok Sabha on September 20, 2023, and Rajya Sabha on September 21, 2023; received Presidential assent on September 28, 2023
- Reserves one-third of total seats, including one-third of SC/ST reserved seats within that quota, for women
- Effective only after the census conducted following the commencement of this Act is published and delimitation of constituencies is carried out — making its earliest implementation likely after the next census (due in 2026-27) and subsequent delimitation
- The reservation is to rotate after each general election held post-implementation
- The Amendment also extended to Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
Connection to this news: The PM's statement reaffirms political commitment to the law but the implementation gap — dependent on the census and delimitation — remains the central policy challenge highlighted in this context.
Historical Legislative Journey of Women's Reservation
Women's political reservation in legislative bodies has a long and contested legislative history in India. Bills for 33% reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies were introduced multiple times — in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008. The first three lapsed due to dissolution of the Lok Sabha, and the 2008 version was passed by the Rajya Sabha but lapsed again in the lower house. It took nearly three decades for the amendment to finally be enacted.
- First Women's Reservation Bill introduced in 1996 during the H.D. Deve Gowda government
- Passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 but lapsed in Lok Sabha
- The 2023 Act was passed in the newly inaugurated Sansad Bhavan during a special session of Parliament
- Before the 2023 Act, India ranked poorly on women's legislative representation; globally, countries like Rwanda (61%), Iceland, and Sweden lead in women's parliamentary representation
Connection to this news: The PM's framing of reservation as "the need of the hour" draws on this long legislative history and the persistent gap between India's aspirational gender equity goals and its actual representation numbers.
Constitutional Framework for Political Reservation — Articles 330, 332, and 334
Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution provide for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies respectively, based on their proportion of the total population. Article 334 originally set a sunset clause of ten years for such reservations, which has been periodically extended by constitutional amendments. The 104th Constitutional Amendment Act (2019) extended this reservation for SC/ST to 2030.
- Article 330: Reservation for SC/ST in the House of the People
- Article 332: Reservation for SC/ST in Legislative Assemblies of States
- Article 334A (newly inserted by 106th Amendment): Provides for review of women's reservation after 15 years of operation
- Delimitation Commission (under the Delimitation Act, 2002) will identify and notify constituencies reserved for women
- Women currently constitute approximately 15% of Lok Sabha members (after 2024 elections)
Connection to this news: The women's reservation framework mirrors the structural design used for SC/ST reservation — with a defined quota, rotation mechanism, and built-in review — but adds the additional pre-condition of census and delimitation before it takes effect.
Key Facts & Data
- Amendment number: 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023
- Seats reserved: One-third (33.33%) of total Lok Sabha seats, state assembly seats, and NCT Delhi assembly seats
- Passed: Lok Sabha on September 20, 2023; Rajya Sabha on September 21, 2023
- Presidential assent: September 28, 2023
- Implementation trigger: Post-census publication + delimitation (census yet to be conducted)
- Women's current share in Lok Sabha: ~15% (post-2024 elections)
- Constitutional articles inserted: 330A, 332A, 334A
- Total Lok Sabha seats: 543; seats to be reserved for women post-implementation: approximately 181
- The amendment also applies to SC/ST reserved seats — one-third of those reserved seats shall also be reserved for women of those categories