‘Why delay the 2023 Act?’: women’s reservation comes full circle as govt.’s ‘U-turn’ fails in LS, Pg6

Key Highlights:

• The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, mandating 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State legislatures, has seen significant developments.
• In 2026, the government introduced the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement women's reservation immediately, using the 2011 Census data.
• The 131st Amendment Bill failed to pass in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 2026, due to a lack of special majority.
• The government operationalized the 106th Amendment Act on April 16, 2026, amidst debates on the unsuccessful 131st Amendment.

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Detailed Insights:

• The 106th Amendment Act required a fresh Census and delimitation exercise before the women's reservation could be implemented, a point of contention with the Opposition in 2023.
• The 131st Amendment Bill aimed to bypass the requirement for a new Census and delimitation, citing potential delays in ensuring women's participation in the democratic process.
• The Opposition has renewed its demand to remove the clause in Article 334A(1) of the 106th Amendment that mandates a fresh Census and delimitation before implementing women's reservation.
• A petition was filed in 2023 urging the Supreme Court to declare the clause requiring a fresh Census and delimitation as unconstitutional, but the court dismissed it.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Delimitation: The process of redrawing the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies to reflect changes in population.
• Census: A periodic count of a country's population, including details on demographics, used for policy planning and resource allocation.
• Article 334A: Provision in the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, that stipulates conditions for the implementation of women's reservation.