India's Parliament has passed a historic bill, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, or the "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam," to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly. The legislation received overwhelming support in both houses, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi having earlier stated that Parliament was on the "verge of history" as it prepared to consider the measure during a special five-day session held from September 18 to 22, 2023.

The bill, considered a landmark step towards enhancing women's political representation, garnered near-unanimous approval. In the Lok Sabha, the lower house, 454 members voted in favour and only two against the bill. The Rajya Sabha, the upper house, subsequently passed the legislation unanimously with 214 votes in favour and zero against. Following its passage, the bill received presidential assent on September 28, 2023, officially becoming law.

The initiative marks a significant development in Indian legislative history, addressing a long-standing demand for greater female participation in policy-making bodies. The concept of women's reservation in legislative bodies was first introduced in Parliament in 1996, with subsequent attempts failing to secure passage or lapsing with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. The successful passage of the 2023 bill concludes nearly three decades of legislative efforts.

Key details of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam include:

  • Reservation Mandate: It mandates the reservation of one-third of the total seats for women in the Lok Sabha, the legislative assemblies of states, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
  • Rotation of Reserved Seats: The bill stipulates that the reserved seats will be allotted by rotation to different constituencies within a state or Union Territory.
  • Duration: The reservation will be valid for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of the Act. Parliament retains the power to extend this period.
  • Implementation Clause: A critical provision states that the reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is conducted based on the first census undertaken after the commencement of the Act.

This implementation clause means that the reservation for women will not be effective for the upcoming 2024 general elections or any state elections prior to the completion of a new census and subsequent redrawing of constituency boundaries. Current projections indicate that the new census may not be conducted until after the 2024 general elections, implying that the provisions of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam are unlikely to be implemented before the 2029 general elections.

The passage of the bill represents a notable legislative achievement for the current government, fulfilling a long-held promise of women's empowerment. While its practical impact on representation is still several years away, the enactment of the law establishes a clear framework for increasing female participation in India's democratic institutions. The next steps involve the conduct of a nationwide census and the subsequent delimitation commission's work to identify and rotate the constituencies reserved for women.