The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has taken a significant step towards gender equality in politics. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha. This bill proposes to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislatures, and the Delhi legislative assembly.
This initiative isn’t entirely new. A similar bill was introduced in 2008 by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. It contained a sunset clause, stating that the policy would terminate 15 years after its commencement. Although the 2008 bill passed the upper house in 2010, it never became law due to a lack of political consensus and the subsequent dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. Over a decade later, the promise of women’s reservation remained unfulfilled, despite various political parties supporting the cause at different times. The current bill, introduced amid renewed debate and increasing demands, aims to implement an affirmative action policy in union and state legislatures, mirroring the approach already present in Panchayati Raj institutions (PRI) and Municipalities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking in the new Lok Sabha chamber, emphasized the bill’s significance. He stated,
“Taking forward our resolve of women-led development, our government is bringing an important constitutional amendment bill. The bill is aimed at expanding the membership of women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ will further empower our democracy.”
He also recalled the efforts during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime, when the Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced multiple times but couldn’t be passed due to a lack of majority.
However, there’s a catch. Even if the bill passes both houses, receives the majority approval of state legislative assemblies, and gets the presidential assent, its implementation might not be immediate. The bill stipulates that the women’s reservation will only be enforced after a delimitation exercise is conducted following the first census after its enactment. This is a notable difference from the 2008 version. Clause 5 of the Bill states:
“Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provision of this Part or Part VIII, the provisions of the Constitution relating to the reservation of seats for women in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census taken after commencement of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2023 have been published.”
Consequently, the proposed constitutional amendment will not impact the 2024 Lok Sabha elections or the representation of women in the new cohort of representatives, as a nationwide census and subsequent delimitation exercise before April next year is improbable.