WOMEN’S RESERVATION BILL (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)

Context: The government recently brought The Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 to provide 33 % reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies. 

Women's Reservation Bill 2023 [The Constitution (One Hundred Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023]

Key features of the Bill

• Reservation for women: The Bill reserves, as nearly as may be, one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.  

oThis will also apply to the seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and states legislatures.  

• Commencement of reservation: The reservation will be effective after the census conducted after the commencement of this Bill has been published.  

oBased on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women.  

oThe reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years.   However, it shall continue till such date as determined by a law made by Parliament. 

• Rotation of seats: Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law made by Parliament.