Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing for the early implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, aiming to have the women's quota in place for the 2029 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and calling for parliamentary support to amend the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Key Points
- PM Modi advocates for implementing the Women's Reservation Act by the 2029 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
- Modi urges parliamentary members to support amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam during a special session.
- The Women's Reservation Act aims to reserve 33% of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats for women.
- Current provisions link implementation to the 2027 Census and delimitation, potentially delaying the quota until 2034.
- Amendments are needed to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to enable implementation by the 2029 elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the time has come for the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act in its true spirit and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with the quota for women in place.
In a letter to the floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament, Modi also asked all members to come together in one voice to pass the amendments to the women's reservation law, officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
"After extensive deliberations, we have reached the conclusion that the time has now come to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in its true spirit across the country.
"It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with women's reservation in place," the Prime Minister said in his letter dated April 11.
The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened on April 16 to 18.
Impact of the Women's Reservation Act
The Women's Reservation Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.
The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023.
Challenges to Implementation
However, the women's quota would have come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. This meant the reservation would not have become enforceable before 2034 if the present law remains as is.
To implement it from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, changes were needed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam; hence, the government is holding a special session to pass the amendments to the law.
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