Centre may delink women’s reservation from census, delimitation ahead of 2027 UP, Uttarkhand polls

Of the total members in the 17th Lok Sabha, 15% are women, while in the state assemblies, women on average constitute 9% of the total members.

• Govt may separate Women's Reservation Act from Census, delimitation
• Plan to implement reservation before 2027 UP, Uttarakhand elections
• Lottery system proposed for women's reserved constituencies

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The Union government is considering delinking the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act from the delimitation and Census exercises so that it can be introduced before the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, according to Indian Express.

One proposal is to use a lottery system to identify the one-third of constituencies that would be reserved for women.

The current law, passed in September 2023, ties the reservation of 33% seats for women in legislatures to the completion of the next Census and subsequent delimitation exercise.

According to reports, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has already spoken twice with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to seek the main Opposition party’s views on amending the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023. It is also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act.

According to the law, the reservation for women will be implemented only after the first Census is conducted following the Act’s commencement and the subsequent delimitation exercise.

Of the total members in the 17th Lok Sabha, 15% are women, while in the state assemblies, women on average constitute 9% of the total members.

The IE report stated that Rijiju said that the Centre wants to bring in an amendment to the Bill in the ongoing Budget session which will conclude on April 2.

“The Congress and a few other parties have already demanded to fast-track the Women’s Reservation Act without waiting for the delimitation and Census exercises to be over. Kharge ji has said it in the House, the DMK and the TMC also made such demands. Linking it with delimitation was the government’s idea,” a Congress insider told IE.

When Bill was taken up in Parliament in 2023, Opposition leaders, including Kharge, had criticised the decision to link it with the delimitation exercise. In the Lok Sabha, DMK leader Kanimozhi said when the UPA government introduced the Bill, no conditions were imposed.

According to her, the passage of the long-pending Bill in the special session was “a strange drama staged by the BJP, keeping in mind the 2024 elections”.