Cabinet clears draft amendment Bill over women’s reservation, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• The Union Cabinet approved a draft amendment Bill on Wednesday to implement the Women’s Reservation Act by the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
• The amendment aims to revise the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the 106th Amendment Act, passed in 2023.
• The Lok Sabha strength is expected to increase from 543 to 816 seats after a new delimitation exercise.
• Around one-third of the expanded House, 273 seats, will be reserved for women, including within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories.
• Delimitation will be based on the 2011 Census data.
• The Bill is scheduled for debate during the Budget Session from April 16-18.

Detailed Insights:

• The Women's Reservation Act aims to ensure greater representation of women in Parliament, addressing historical underrepresentation in Indian politics.
• Increasing the Lok Sabha seats and reserving one-third for women could significantly alter the gender dynamics and inclusivity of the Indian Parliament.
• Using the 2011 Census for delimitation allows for quicker implementation, avoiding delays associated with waiting for the 2027 Census data.
• The vertical reservation approach ensures that women from marginalized communities, such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, also benefit from the reservation policy.
• The delimitation exercise will redraw constituency boundaries to accommodate the increased number of seats, impacting political representation across different regions.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Delimitation: The process of redrawing the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies to represent changes in population.
• Vertical Reservation: The practice of reserving a percentage of seats for specific groups within each category, such as women within the SC/ST categories.
• Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam: Formally known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, which mandates the reservation of seats for women in legislative bodies.