NEW DELHI: In an effort to speed up the implementation of the women’s reservation law, the Central government has approached Opposition parties to seek their views on a proposal to amend the legislation that grants 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, sources said on Monday.
The Women’s Reservation Bill, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — was passed during a special session of Parliament in September 2023. According to the law, the reservation for women will be implemented only after the first Census conducted following the Act’s commencement and the subsequent delimitation exercise.
The next delimitation exercise is expected to take place after the 2027 Census, when constituencies will be redrawn based on updated population data.
According to sources, the government has informally reached out to Opposition leaders to discuss whether amendments could be made to the legislation so that the reservation for women can be implemented sooner than currently planned.
Although the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed unanimously in both Houses of Parliament in September 2023, the Opposition’s main contention has been that its implementation is dependent on the completion of the Census and the delimitation process, which could delay the actual rollout of the reservation. The delimitation exercise scheduled after 2027 will determine the seats to be reserved for women.
According to the law, the quota for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies will remain in force for 15 years, after which Parliament may decide whether to extend the provision.
In an earlier interview with this newspaper, noted economist and former Chief Statistician Pronab Sen said the government could delink the women’s reservation provision from the delimitation requirement by amending the law.
Questioning the linkage, Sen said, “Why should the women’s quota be held hostage to delimitation? The reservation for women will remain stuck because it has been made dependent on delimitation and the Census.” He also suggested that the Opposition should demand an amendment to address the issue.
Sen argued that tying the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill to delimitation could create political complications.
“Why should the implementation of the Women’s Bill be connected to delimitation? If delimitation is carried out purely on the basis of population, the government could face opposition from southern states as well as from states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat. These states may see a reduction in their representation because they have performed relatively well in controlling population growth,” he said.
First introduced in 1996, the Women’s Reservation Bill remained pending for nearly 27 years amid opposition from several political parties. Although it was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 during the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance government, it was not taken up in the Lok Sabha due to a lack of political consensus.