Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Women's Reservation Act 2023
"The constitutional amendment reserving 33% of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats for women — but operative only after the next delimitation exercise, tying women's representation to population redistribution politics"
The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — popularly called the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — reserves one-third (33%) of all seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Legislative Assembly for women. Crucially, the reservation does not come into force immediately: it is explicitly linked to the completion of the first delimitation exercise conducted after a Census whose data is published after the Act's commencement. Since the 2021 Census remains unpublished and the delimitation exercise linked to it is pending, the reservation is effectively deferred to 2029 or beyond. The reservation covers SC/ST reserved seats within the 33% share (i.e., the 33% includes seats already reserved for SC/ST women). Rotation of reserved seats will occur after every delimitation exercise.
A high-priority UPSC GS-2 topic (Polity — constitutional amendments, women's empowerment, federalism). Prelims tests the amendment number (106th), the fraction (33%), the condition precedent (delimitation after Census), and whether Rajya Sabha is covered (it is not — only Lok Sabha and state assemblies). Mains questions link the Act to India's poor global ranking on women's political representation (143rd, IPU 2025), the conflict between immediate enactment and the delimitation-linkage design, and the feminist critique that delay perpetuates underrepresentation.
- 1 Constitution (106th Amendment) Act 2023 — also known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam
- 2 Reserves 33% of Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly seats for women
- 3 Does NOT cover Rajya Sabha or state legislative councils
- 4 Operative only after delimitation conducted post-Census publication — effectively deferred to 2029 at earliest
- 5 SC/ST-reserved seats are included within the 33% share, not additional
- 6 Reserved seats will rotate after each delimitation exercise
- 7 India ranks 143rd globally in women's political representation (IPU 2025) — one of the motivating contexts
- 8 [object Object]
In April 2026, the 131st Amendment Bill to expand Lok Sabha to 850 seats reignited debate: since the Women's Reservation Act triggers only after delimitation, expanding seat numbers would not automatically increase women's seats without also completing delimitation — making the two exercises operationally linked.
