Women's Reservation under the 106th Constitutional Amendment

The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 provides for reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. It constitutionally fixes the reservation at approximately one-third of directly elected seats, including women’s share within seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Constitutional provisions

The amendment inserted Articles 330A, 332A and 334A, and amended Article 239AA concerning Delhi.

• Article 330A reserves approximately one-third of the directly elected seats in the Lok Sabha for women.
• Article 332A provides the same reservation in every State Legislative Assembly.
• The amendment to Article 239AA extends women’s reservation to the Legislative Assembly of Delhi.
• Approximately one-third of the seats already reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes must be reserved for women belonging to those communities.

Commencement, duration and rotation

Under Article 334A, reservation will take effect only after delimitation undertaken for this purpose following publication of the relevant figures of the first census conducted after the amendment came into force.

• The reservation is constitutionally provided for 15 years from its operational commencement, subject to Parliament’s power to determine its continuation by law.
• Reserved constituencies may be rotated after each subsequent delimitation, as Parliament determines by law.
• The amendment does not disturb representation in an existing Lok Sabha or Assembly before its dissolution.

Scope of the reservation

The amendment applies to seats filled by direct election. It does not provide corresponding reservation in the Rajya Sabha or State Legislative Councils.