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Women’s Reservation Act comes into force
New Delhi: The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, which provides for 33% reservation for women in legislative bodies, officially came into effect on April 16, 2026, following a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law late Thursday evening.
The timing of the notification has raised questions, as Parliament is currently engaged in discussions over proposed amendments aimed at advancing the implementation timeline to 2029. While the government has not formally explained the rationale behind enforcing the Act at this stage, there is speculation that the move is intended to secure the law’s legal standing.
According to the official notification, the government exercised its authority under Section 1(2) of the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, to bring the provisions into force from April 16, 2026.
The legislation, passed in September 2023, was widely regarded as a landmark reform to improve women’s representation in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies by reserving one-third of the seats.
However, despite its formal enforcement, the reservation provisions are not expected to be implemented anytime soon. The Act links its rollout to the completion of the delimitation process, which will follow the next national census scheduled for 2027. As a result, the reservation is unlikely to take effect before 2034 under the current framework.
To address this delay, the government has introduced three new bills in the Lok Sabha, currently under debate, aimed at enabling the implementation of women’s reservation as early as 2029.
Officials have clarified that the newly enforced law will not apply to the present composition of legislative bodies. Its provisions will only come into effect after the required census and delimitation processes are completed.
