Women's Reservation Act, 2023 (106th Constitutional Amendment)

The Women's Reservation Act, 2023 reserves one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha, every State Legislative Assembly and the Delhi Legislative Assembly for women. Its official name is the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, also called the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. The reservation does not start at once. It begins only after a fresh delimitation based on a new census, and it lasts for 15 years.

Why was it needed?

Women are about half of India's population. But their share in Parliament has stayed very low. The 18th Lok Sabha, elected in 2024, has 74 women MPs, about 13.6% of the 543 seats. In many state assemblies the share is below 10%. Laws on health, safety, work and family affect women deeply, so many experts argued women need a fair voice where these laws are made.

Reservation for women already worked at the village and town level, which gave confidence it could work at the higher level too.

Where did it come from?

The idea took almost 30 years to become law.

• 1992-93: The 73rd and 74th Amendments reserved one-third of seats in panchayats and municipalities for women (Articles 243D and 243T). This showed that reservation for women could work.
• 1996: The 81st Constitution Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 12 September 1996. It was sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee. The bill lapsed when the Lok Sabha was dissolved.
• 1998-99: Similar bills were brought again and lapsed again.
• 2008-2010: The 108th Constitution Amendment Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2008. The Rajya Sabha passed it on 9 March 2010 (186 votes to 1). The Lok Sabha never voted on it, and it lapsed when the 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved in 2014.
• 2023: The Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 was the first bill taken up in the new Parliament building. The Lok Sabha passed it on 20 September 2023 (454 for, 2 against). The Rajya Sabha passed it on 21 September 2023 (214 for, 0 against). The President gave assent on 28 September 2023. Once in force, it became the 106th Amendment Act.

A bill gets a number when it is introduced (here, 128th). The Act gets a different number when it is passed, based on how many amendments have been made so far (here, 106th). So "128th Amendment Bill" and "106th Amendment Act" are the same law at two stages.

What does it say, article by article?

The Act added new articles and changed some old ones.

• Article 330A: reserves one-third of Lok Sabha seats for women. This includes one-third of the seats already reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• Article 332A: does the same for every State Legislative Assembly.
• Article 239AA: amended to do the same for the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• Article 334A: sets the timing. The reservation starts only after a delimitation done using the first census taken after the Act comes into force. It lasts for 15 years from that start. Parliament can extend it by law. Women's seats rotate after each later delimitation, as Parliament decides by law.

How does it work? A simple example

Suppose a state has 30 Lok Sabha seats. Ten of them (one-third) will be reserved for women. Only women can contest from those ten. Now suppose 6 of the 30 are already SC seats. Then 2 of those 6 SC seats will be reserved for SC women. The rest of the ten women's seats come from the general seats. After the next delimitation, the women's seats move to different constituencies, so that every area gets women representatives over time.

What does it not cover?

• It does not apply to the Rajya Sabha or the State Legislative Councils, because their members are elected indirectly.
• It has no separate quota for OBC women (Other Backward Classes). The Constitution has no OBC reservation in legislatures at all, so the Act could not create one inside it.

Why the delay to start?

The link to a new census and delimitation is the main reason. India's last census was in 2011. The Act was formally brought into force by government notification in April 2026, more than 900 days after it was passed. Even then, women's seats can be reserved only after the next census and a fresh delimitation are completed.

The 2026 attempt to change it

In April 2026, the government introduced the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 along with a Delimitation Bill. These aimed to start women's reservation earlier, through a delimitation using the 2011 census, and to raise the maximum size of the Lok Sabha to 850 seats. On 17 April 2026, the Lok Sabha voted 298 for and 230 against.

A Constitution amendment needs a special majority under Article 368: a majority of the total membership of the House, and two-thirds of members present and voting. Two-thirds of 528 voting members is 352. Since 298 was less than 352, the bill was defeated. The 2023 Act stays in force as it is.

Commonly confused concepts

• 106th Amendment Act vs 128th Amendment Bill: the same law; the bill number and the Act number are different.
• Women's reservation in legislatures (Articles 330A, 332A) vs in local bodies (Articles 243D, 243T): local bodies got one-third reservation in 1992-93 and it already works. Many states have raised it to 50% for panchayats. The legislature quota is still waiting for delimitation.
• Reservation of seats (political) vs reservation in jobs and education: Articles 330A and 332A are about who can contest certain seats. Job and college reservation comes from Articles 15 and 16.
• Delimitation vs census: a census counts the people. Delimitation redraws constituencies and fixes seat numbers using census figures. It is done by a Delimitation Commission set up under a law of Parliament.
• Special majority under Article 368 vs simple majority: a simple majority is more than half of those present and voting. A Constitution amendment needs the higher special majority described above.

Issues, criticism and the way forward

• Delay: supporters of quick action say tying the quota to a new census and delimitation pushes it far into the future. The government's position has been that fresh data is needed to decide fairly which seats are reserved.
• Delimitation and federalism: southern states, which controlled population growth better, fear that a population-based delimitation will reduce their share of Lok Sabha seats. This is why the women's quota has become tied to a wider Centre-state debate.
• OBC women: some groups ask for a sub-quota for OBC women, as exists for SC and ST women.
• "Proxy" representation: critics point to cases in panchayats where husbands or relatives act for elected women (often called "sarpanch pati"). Others reply that studies show women leaders have changed priorities in local bodies, for example towards drinking water.
• Rotation: rotating seats after each delimitation means a woman member may not be able to contest the same seat again. Some experts say this weakens the bond with voters.
• Way forward: suggestions include finishing the census and delimitation on time, building consensus with states on the seat formula, training and funding support for women candidates, and making political parties nominate more women even in unreserved seats.

Concepts to Know

• Delimitation: fixing how many seats each state gets and drawing the boundary of each constituency, based on population. The Lok Sabha seat count of states has been frozen on the 1971 census until the first census after 2026 (84th Amendment, 2001).
• Census: the official count of every person in the country, normally done every ten years. India's last census was in 2011.
• Constituency: the area from which one member is elected.
• Sunset clause: a rule that a law will end after a fixed time unless renewed. Here, 15 years.
• Lapse of a bill: when a bill dies and must be brought again from the start, usually because the Lok Sabha is dissolved.