“Time Has Come to Enforce Women’s Reservation Act,” Says Narendra Modi in Letter to Parliamentary Leaders

NEW DELHI, Apr 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged political consensus to operationalise the Women’s Reservation Act well before its originally scheduled timeline, stressing that the 2029 general and state elections should reflect enhanced representation for women.

In a letter addressed to floor leaders of both Houses of Parliament ahead of a specially convened three day sitting, the Prime Minister called for unified support to amend the existing framework of the law, formally known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

He noted that the country has reached a decisive moment to translate legislative intent into reality, emphasizing that the spirit of the law must be realised without prolonged delay. The communication, dated April 11, highlights the government’s push to accelerate the process so that upcoming elections can be conducted under the revised reservation provisions.

Parliament’s Budget Session has been extended, with a special sitting scheduled from April 16 to 18 to deliberate on the proposed amendments. The move is aimed at bypassing the earlier dependency on post-delimitation implementation, which was tied to the Census exercise.

As per current provisions, the law mandates 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, with the total number of Lok Sabha seats projected to rise to 816, including 273 reserved constituencies.

However, under the existing structure, enforcement was contingent upon the completion of delimitation based on Census data, effectively pushing implementation to the mid-2030s. The proposed legislative changes now seek to bring forward this timeline, enabling earlier execution of the quota system.

The upcoming parliamentary session is expected to play a crucial role in determining whether the revised roadmap for women’s political representation gains the required legislative backing.