Commencement of Women’s Reservation in Legislatures

Women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha does not begin merely from the enactment of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. Under Article 334A, it commences only after a specified census-linked delimitation exercise is completed.

Constitutional trigger

The operative condition has two linked stages under Article 334A. First, the relevant figures of the first census conducted after the commencement of the 2023 Amendment Act must be published. Second, a delimitation exercise based on those figures must be undertaken for this purpose; the reservation provisions take effect only after that delimitation.

• Publication of census figures alone does not commence the reservation; the required delimitation must follow.
• The commencement is therefore tied to a future constitutional process rather than directly to the Amendment Act’s enactment.

Reservation that becomes operational

Once the condition is fulfilled, Article 330A provides for reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha. As nearly as may be, one-third of the total seats filled by direct election are reserved for women, including one-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

• Under Article 334A, these provisions are constitutionally prescribed to operate for 15 years from their commencement, subject to Parliament’s power to provide otherwise by law.
• Reserved seats may be rotated after each subsequent delimitation in the manner determined by Parliament by law.