Introduction

The Women’s Reservation Act, 2023 is popularly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. It was enacted as the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. It provides for reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Constitutional status

The law was first introduced as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, but after passage and assent it became the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023.

Main objective

The main purpose of the Act is to improve women’s political representation in law-making bodies and to correct the long-standing underrepresentation of women in Parliament and State Assemblies.

What the Act provides

The Act reserves as nearly as may be one-third of the total seats for women in:

• Lok Sabha
• State Legislative Assemblies
• Legislative Assembly of Delhi

Reservation within SC and ST seats

The one-third reservation also applies to seats already reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This means one-third of the SC-reserved seats and one-third of the ST-reserved seats will also be reserved for women.

New constitutional provisions inserted

The amendment inserted new constitutional provisions for women’s reservation in legislatures, including Article 330A for the Lok Sabha and Article 332A for State Legislative Assemblies.

Duration of reservation

The reservation is to continue for 15 years from the commencement of the reservation provision. However, Parliament may decide to continue it further by law.

Rotation of seats

The seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation.

When will it come into effect

This is the most important implementation point.

The reservation will not take effect immediately. It will come into force only:

• after the first census conducted after the commencement of the Act is published
• and after a delimitation exercise is undertaken on the basis of that census.

As of 2025 and 2026, the reservation has not yet been implemented because the required census and delimitation exercise have not been completed. Government statements and PIB material have clearly said that implementation is contingent on these steps.

Major criticism

The main criticism is that the Act does not provide immediate reservation. Since it is linked to a future census and delimitation exercise, critics argue that implementation may be delayed. Another criticism raised in political debate is the absence of a separate quota for OBC women within the reserved seats. These concerns were reflected in parliamentary and public discussions summarized by PRS and PIB-linked reporting.

Conclusion

The Women’s Reservation Act, 2023 is a landmark constitutional reform aimed at increasing women’s representation in legislatures. However, its actual implementation depends on the completion of the next census and a fresh delimitation exercise, which means the constitutional promise has been made, but its operational effect is still pending.