Centre Clears Path for Women’s Reservation by 2029, Plans Early Delimitation and Seat Expansion

New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved key amendments to enable the rollout of 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by the 2029 general elections.
The move seeks to fast-track the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which originally linked the reservation to a delimitation exercise after the 2026 Census. To accelerate the process, the government plans to introduce two Bills in Parliament.
The first Bill will amend provisions in the 2023 law to allow reservation without waiting for the post-2026 delimitation. The second will modify the 84th Constitutional Amendment, which currently freezes the redrawing of constituency boundaries until 2026.
Officials indicated that lifting the freeze will pave the way for an early delimitation exercise. As part of the plan, the government is also considering increasing the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by up to 50 percent, with women’s reservation applied to the expanded strength.
The women’s reservation proposal has been pending since the 1990s and was passed unanimously by Parliament in 2023 as the first legislative agenda in the new Parliament building.
If implemented as planned, the reforms would mark a significant shift in India’s legislative representation, ensuring greater participation of women in policymaking at both national and state levels.