Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam: 5 Things To Know About Women's Reservation Bill

The Women Reservation Bill seeking to guarantee 33% quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced in Lok Sabha of the new Parliament building amid the ongoing special session on Tuesday.

Making it the first bill to be introduced in the new Parliament building, the government said it will enable greater participation of women in policy-making at the state and national levels and help achieve the goal of making India a developed country by 2047.

The bill be named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. However, its implementation may still take some time and is unlikely to be in force for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as the reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed.

The bill has proposed that the reservation would continue for a period of 15 years and there will be quota for SC/STs within the reserved seats for women.

The reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise, according to the bill.

Here are the key features of the bill:

• The bill mandates the reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, for women. This initiative aims to enhance female representation in the national legislature.
• The bill extends its provisions to the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It reserves one-third of the seats for women, including those belonging to Scheduled Castes, in the Delhi Assembly.
• The amendment applies to the legislative assemblies of all Indian states. Similar to the Lok Sabha and Delhi Assembly provisions, one-third of the total seats reserved under this clause will be designated for women, including those from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• The bill specifies that the reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly will be implemented following a delimitation exercise. It comes into effect after the publication of relevant census figures following the commencement of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2023. This provision will be in effect for fifteen years from the said commencement.
• The bill allows for the rotation of reserved seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly after each subsequent delimitation exercise, as determined by Parliament.