What is Women Reservation Bill 2026
The 128th Constitution Amendment Bill deals with Women Reservation Bill, also called the NARI Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, became the first bill to be introduced in special Lok Sabha session in the new parliament building.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government finalized this bill a day prior in a union cabinet meeting held after the first day of the Special Parliament Session.
It always hurts when some of leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav said :
We are not anti-women but we want reservations for women hailing from minority and backward classes first.
In Democracy, where everything goes with the counting and the so called Socialist party like SP and others want everything for minority. Everything that suits minority might not fit for majority and also not to the growth of country.
The Congress party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of delaying the bill for electoral gains, while former Congress President Sonia Gandhi referred to it as ours.
The UPA government’s efforts to secure its passage in the Rajya Sabha in 2010. But they never tabled the bill on Lok sabha for voting due to internal conflicts of UPA’s party.
Union Home Minister of India Amit Shah accused the Congress party of “tokenism” and alleged that the party allowed the bill to lapse.
Facts about the Women’s Reservation Bill that has been tabled in Parliament:
What is the Women Reservation Bill?
The Women’s Reservation Bill proposes reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies for women, contingent upon the next delimitation exercise.
The constitution of India originally tells – 3 category of MPs:
- General,
- Scheduled Caste and
- Scheduled Tribe
- There is also a provision for the reservation of seats for women belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST). However, there is no mention of Other Backward Classes (OBC), which has been the subject of debate in the Parliament.
- To enact these changes, the bill proposes amendments to Article 239AA and introduces Articles 330A, 332A, and 334A.
- The bill also includes a 15-year sunset clause for the quota, which can be extended as needed.
- There is also no provision for women’s reservation in the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Councils. However, the Centre stated that it hopes the Rajya Sabha will follow suit during the special session.
Why is Women Reservation Bill needed?
Women’s representation in state legislatures and Parliament remains limited despite their active participation in local governance. Moreover, enhancing women’s empowerment requires increased participation in decision-making, which can also enrich legislative debates.
Bihar being the first in 2006 governments have provided 50 % reservation for women legally but still the count reaches to 12-14%.
When will it be implemented?
Delimitation Clause:
The Opposition has criticized the bill for delaying its implementation till 2029 if enacted. This is because of the delimitation clause and amendments to the Constitution recommended in the bill.
The implementation of Women Reservation Bill is contingent on delimitation.
The life cycle for this bill is 15 years and reservations of the seat is on rotation basis and in whole 3 terms, it complete a full cycle. The delimitation is scheduled for 2026 and it was fixed in 1980s only, so implementing Women reservation bill, now definitely brings a biased distribution.
Delimitation is seen as a necessary pre-requisite for any women reservation to be implemented since it cannot be arbitrarily decided which 1/3rd of the seats will be ‘reserved’ for women candidates, and which won’t. Thus, a neutral and independent body is supposed to embark on this endeavor, in what can be a complicated process.
Once everything is fixed with census and delimitation, Government will implement this bill.
The Delimitation commission is to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, and its members will comprise of Election Commission employees, including the Chief Election Commissioner. The orders of the delimitation commission are legally binding, and cannot be modified by the parliament or any other body.
1. What Is Delimitation?
Delimitation is the process of redrawing Lok Sabha and state Assembly constituencies as per the latest population data. As per Election Commission’s website – delimitation “literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.”
The premise and underlying idea behind delimitation is for constituency sizes to accurately reflect demographic changes, and for each vote to carry the same weight in the larger scheme of the elections.
The delimitation is, thus, meant to ensure that, a similar set number of voters across the country have one Lok Sabha representative and on the same lines have one assembly representative.
The scheduled delimitation will be in 2026. However, this will not be possible without the latest census data, as the 2021 census was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia- Ukraine War.
With the general elections for 2024, the next census may not be taken, at the earliest, until the end of next year.
Amending the Constitution requires at least …
- HALF of MPs to be present and voting, with two-thirds of them voting in favor in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
- HALF of state assemblies needed to clear the bill.
Finally, the President must give their assent.
Earlier Attempts to pass the bill:
This is the bill, where BJP and Congress were always in support but the local and different states parties has their own concerns. They still want reservation within a reservation. The Women’s Reservation Bill in India, also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, is a proposed legislation with the aim of increasing the representation of women in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament) and state assemblies. It intends to achieve this by reserving one-third of the seats for women.
This bill initially passed the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but lapsed when it could not secure passage in the Lok Sabha. In 2023, the current government reintroduced the bill, which was subsequently approved by the cabinet and passed by the Lok Sabha with an overwhelming majority.
“In my party, a lot of people are against the women reservation bill so we cannot pass it” — Sonia Gandhi in 2010
Benefits to the Women and India:
The Women’s Reservation Bill is expected to have several positive impacts:
- Enhancing women’s participation and empowerment in politics and policy-making.
- Seeks to address gender disparities and discrimination faced by women in various aspects of life.
Frequently Asked Question FAQ
1.) What is the women’s reservation bill in the Indian Parliament?
The WRB was first introduced in 1996; however, it didn’t get approval in the Lok Sabha. The WWB was then referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee, which presented its report in December 1996. However, the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and had to be reintroduced.
2.) Which state was the first one to give 50% reservation in Panchayati Raj ?
In 2006, Bihar became the first state to designate 50% of PRI seats for female employees.
3.) What is a reservation amendment?
The Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies would reserve one-third of all seats for women under the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill of 2008. The authority specified by Parliament shall decide how to distribute the reserved seats.
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