New Delhi, March 24 The government's plan to implement the women's reservation law by increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the present 543 may require creating new constituencies from the existing ones, sources said on Tuesday.
To implement the women's quota law even before the delimitation exercise, the government plans to introduce two bills to reserve 273 seats for women.
By amending the Delimitation Act, the central government plans to create 273 new seats for women.
One possible way is to create the new seats from the existing 543, an official explained.
The official noted that while there are norms to reserve seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, there is currently no mechanism to reserve seats for women.
One option could be to use a "lottery" system to decide on the 273 seats proposed for women.
To reserve similar 33 per cent seats for women in state legislative assemblies, a "pro rata" formula will be applied.
Data from the 2011 census will be used to redraw constituencies, as the ongoing census is still in progress.
The provision to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced by amending the Constitution, but it will come into effect after the delimitation exercise is completed.
According to the available information, the number of Lok Sabha seats would be increased from the present 543 to 816, with 273 seats reserved for women. The reservation will also be done in a "vertical" manner, with seats allocated for SCs and STs.
While a Constitution amendment bill will modify the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the women's reservation law, another ordinary bill will amend the Delimitation Act.
Once approved by Parliament, the proposed laws will come into effect on March 31, 2029, and will help reserve seats in the next Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh.
The sources also emphasized that a delimitation commission is a "neutral" body mandated to redraw Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies, and its decisions cannot be challenged even in the Supreme Court.
They said a neutral body will instill confidence in the delimitation process.
The Election Commission is another independent institution, but it cannot be mandated to carry out a pan-India delimitation exercise.
"At best, it can carry out delimitation of one or a few states, as it did in Assam recently," a government official pointed out.
Besides the delimitation exercise, which can decide the constituencies that can be reserved for women, as it does for the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes (based on their population), another way to decide on constituencies can be through rotation.
A Lok Sabha seat usually consists of five or more assembly constituencies.
In September 2023, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill.
The law is officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.
The sources said that although the Act is not yet in force, it can still be amended by Parliament through another Constitution amendment bill, if the government so wishes and it receives the required support in the two Houses.
According to its provision, it will come into effect on a date appointed by the Central government through a notification in the official gazette.
The Constitution (106th Amendment) Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha with near unanimity, and by the Rajya Sabha with unanimous support.
When the bill was passed, the government noted that the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise would determine the specific seats to be earmarked for women.
The quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will continue for 15 years, and Parliament can later extend the benefit period.
While there is a quota within the quota for SC and ST women, the opposition had demanded that the benefit should also be extended to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).