New Delhi: The Women’s Reservation Bill or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (also called the Constitution 106th Amendment Act, 2023) reserves 33% (one-third) of seats for women in the Lok Sabha (national Parliament’s lower house) and in state legislative assemblies (including Delhi).
It also reserves a share for women from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) inside this quota, based on their population.
What it does not cover: Rajya Sabha (upper house), nominated seats, or local bodies like panchayats (which already have 33% women reservation since the 1990s).
The reservation will last for 15 years from the start date, and authorities can extend it later if needed. The system will rotate seats every election cycle to ensure that the same areas are not always reserved for women.
Why This Bill is Important?
Women form nearly half of India’s population but have had only about 14-15% representation in the Lok Sabha for many years. The aim is to give women a bigger role in making laws on education, health, safety, and other important issues that affect everyone.
Many studies show that when women lead at the village level (panchayats), there are improvements in areas like schools, water, roads, and women’s safety. This law tries to bring similar benefits to higher levels of government.
Journey of the Bill
- The demand for women’s reservation gained serious momentum in the 1990s.
- Lawmakers introduced the bill several times, but it failed to pass.
- The government introduced it again in September 2023 during a special Parliament session.
- The Lok Sabha passed it on 20 September 2023 with 454 votes in favour and 2 against.
- The Rajya Sabha passed it unanimously on 21 September 2023.
- Droupadi Murmu gave her assent on 28 September 2023.
What happened in April 2026?
Yesterday on 16th April the government issues a gazette notification that brought the 2023 law into force officially.
A special Parliament session (16-18 April 2026) discussed new bills to help implement the reservation quickly, possibly before the 2029 elections. These included ideas like increasing total Lok Sabha seats (from 543 to around 800+) so no one loses a seat, and doing delimitation (redrawing constituencies) using available data.
However, the key constitutional amendment bill needed a two-thirds majority but did not get it, so it was not passed.
Current status: The law is active, but the actual 33% reservation has not passes in parliament. It will begin only after the next full Census and the delimitation exercise (redrawing of seats based on population) are completed.
How will it work?
- After delimitation, one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be reserved for women.
- Example: If a state has 300 assembly seats, about 100 will be for women.
- SC/ST women will get their due share within these seats.
- The reserved seats will rotate after each delimitation so different areas get a chance.
Expected Impact
When implemented, this will bring more women into decision-making roles. It can lead to better focus on issues affecting families and society. The success seen in panchayats gives hope that more women in Parliament and assemblies will strengthen democracy and development.
Implementation depends on completing the Census and delimitation fairly. There are discussions on how seat distribution will affect different states and regions.
Ensuring women get real power (party tickets, resources, safe campaigning) beyond just seats is also important.
This bill is a big constitutional step toward greater women’s participation in politics.
