Govt moves ahead on women’s reservation ahead of 2029 rollout, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the government is moving forward on women’s empowerment as a three-day special sitting of Parliament begins.

His remarks came ahead of the sitting, during which the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, commonly known as the Women Reservation Act, will be amended for implementation in 2029.

“In the special sitting of Parliament, beginning today, our country is all set to take a historic step towards women’s empowerment. The respect for our mothers and sisters is the respect for the nation, and with this very spirit, we are moving forward resolutely in this direction,” Modi said in a post on X in Hindi.

Under the Constitution amendment bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls. This will follow a delimitation exercise based on the last published census.

Seats in state and Union territory assemblies will also be increased to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.

According to the bill circulated among Lok Sabha members, seats reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies “shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory.”