Article 334A
The Constitutional Basis for Women's Reservation
Article 334A, inserted by the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — popularly called the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — provides for reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Its defining and most contested feature is that it does not take effect immediately on enactment; it is explicitly made contingent on a future delimitation exercise.
- Article 334A(1) states that the reservation provisions come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is undertaken on the basis of the figures of the first census conducted after the Amendment's commencement.
- The reservation is to remain in force for 15 years from commencement, though Parliament retains the power to extend this period by law.
- Reserved seats are to be rotated among different constituencies within a state/UT after each subsequent delimitation exercise, as Parliament may determine by law.
- The reservation covers the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies (including Delhi's); it does not extend to the Rajya Sabha or State Legislative Councils, which are not directly elected on a territorial-constituency basis.
● Tracked since March 23, 2026 · last seen August 10, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
See it in today’s brief.
Daily current affairs with every static concept explained in place.
Read the daily brief