Women's Reservation Bill Is Now Officially A Law In India

The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam officially became law in India when President Droupadi Murmu granted her approval to the Women's Reservation Bill. The Ministry of Law and Justice notified that "The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on the 28th September, 2023 and is hereby published for general information."

With its enactment, 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be reserved for women.

Now, it will be officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act. According to its provision, ''It shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.'' During a special session of Parliament earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described the law as ''Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam''.

The Constitution amendment bill was passed by the Lok Sabha with near unanimity and the Rajya Sabha with unanimity.

The law will take some time before being implemented as the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise - redrawing of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies - will ascertain the particular seats being earmarked for women.

The quota for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies will continue for 15 years and Parliament can later extend the benefit period.

While there is quota within quota for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women, the opposition had demanded that the benefit be extended to Other Backward Classes.

The Women's Reservation Bill faced opposition from the AIMIM, which argued that it would primarily benefit Savarna women and that there were no provisions for the reservation of seats for Muslim women representatives. Additionally, the Congress party raised concerns about the absence of OBC reservations and the extended timeline for implementation even after the bill's passage in Parliament and receiving the President's approval.

"The provisions of the Constitution pertaining to seat reservations for women in the House of the People, state Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi will be enforced following a delimitation exercise. This exercise will occur subsequent to the release of pertinent data from the first census conducted after the commencement of the Constitution Act, 2023, and will remain in effect for a duration of fifteen years from said commencement," as stated in the bill.

There have been several efforts to pass the bill in Parliament since 1996. The last such attempt was made in 2010, when the Rajya Sabha had passed a bill for women's reservation, but the same could not be passed in the Lok Sabha. Data shows that women MPs account for nearly 15 per cent of the Lok Sabha strength while their representation is below 10 per cent in many state assemblies.