Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam
Context:
The Union Government has recently sent informal feelers to several Opposition leaders to seek their opinion on bringing an amendment to advance the timeline for the implementation of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, commonly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Key Provisions of the Act:
The core mandate of the Act is to allocate 33% of the seats in directly elected legislative bodies—specifically the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies—to women.
It was notably the first legislation to be passed in the new Parliament building on September 21, 2023, achieving near-unanimous support across both Houses.
Section 5:
The primary contention revolves around Section 5 of the Act.
It stipulates that the reservation will only 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 Act".
The Union Cabinet cleared the decks for the next Census on December 12, 2025.
This exercise will occur in two phases:
A "houselisting and housing census" from April to September 2026
"Population enumeration" in February 2027.
Despite the Census timeline becoming clearer, the schedule for the subsequent delimitation exercise—which is expected to increase the overall number of Lok Sabha seats—remains ambiguous.
Opposition Concerns:
The ambiguity surrounding the timeline has been the main thrust of the Opposition's criticism.
Leaders have argued that there is no constitutional or practical need to link women's reservation with the Census and delimitation exercises, expressing concerns that these prerequisites could delay implementation indefinitely.