Call all-party meeting to discuss implementation of Women’s Reservation Act: Kharge to Rijiju

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has again urged the government to convene an - all‑party meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to set out a clear roadmap for implementing the Women’s Reservation Act (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) - a landmark constitutional amendment that seeks to reserve - 33 % of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures for women.

The Act, formally enacted as the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty‑Eighth Amendment) Act, 2023 , was passed unanimously by Parliament in September 2023 after decades of legislative debate. It marks the culmination of a long‑standing demand for increased political representation of women, a cause that had seen multiple earlier Bills introduced and stalled over nearly three decades.

However, the law will take effect only after the next Census and the subsequent delimitation exercise, which involves redrawing constituency boundaries to reflect population changes. At present, women constitute 74 members in the 543-member Lok Sabha, accounting for about 13.6 percent of the House , highlighting the relatively low level of female representation in Parliament. The linkage of the Women’s Reservation Act to the census and delimitation process has raised concerns that the 33 percent reservation for women could be delayed until the early 2030s if current timelines for the census and delimitation are followed.

Kharge has responded to a letter from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju by reiterating that the Congress believes a broad political consensus is essential before amending the Act or devising implementation plans. His letter states that such a meeting with all opposition parties would honour “the best traditions of parliamentary democracy.”

Congress leaders including Jairam Ramesh have also publicly urged the Centre to refrain from “divide and rule” politics and instead seek inclusive dialogue ahead of any amendment move. Opposition parties such as the Samajwadi Party and others have similarly called for consultations after informal feelers from the government on amending the Act emerged in recent weeks.

One indication of the government’s intent to accelerate implementation is its consideration of delinking the reservation from the census and delimitation timeline , possibly using alternate mechanisms such as a lottery system to identify constituencies to be reserved for women ahead of upcoming elections, including the 2027 state polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand .

Critics have noted that the current implementation framework could mean women won’t see reserved seats before 2034 , given the likely duration of census and delimitation processes and legal requirements. They have also pointed to other issues not addressed in the Act, including the absence of sub‑quotas for OBC women and the exclusion of the Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Councils from reservation provisions.