Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his government is firmly advancing efforts towards women’s empowerment as Parliament convened for a three-day special session.
His remarks came ahead of the special sitting in which amendments related to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, also known as the Women’s Reservation Act, are set to be taken up for implementation by 2029.
“In the special sitting of Parliament, beginning today, our country is all set to take a historic step towards women's empowerment. The respect for our mothers and sisters is the respect for the nation, and with this very spirit, we are moving forward resolutely in this direction,” Modi said in a post on X in Hindi.
As per the Constitution amendment bill, the strength of the Lok Sabha is proposed to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the present 543 to operationalise the women’s reservation law before the 2029 general elections. This would follow a delimitation exercise based on the last published census.
The bill also proposes expansion of seats in state and Union territory legislatures to implement 33 per cent reservation for women.
It further states that seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies would be rotated among different constituencies within states and Union territories.