Women’s Reservation Law Comes Into Force as Centre Notifies 106th Amendment

The Centre has brought into force the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, popularly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, with a formal notification issued on April 16, 2026, even as Parliament simultaneously took up a fresh legislative package to operationalise the law.

The notification, issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, appoints April 16, 2026 as the date on which the provisions of the 106th Constitutional Amendment come into effect. The development marks the formal activation of the legal framework for women’s reservation in Parliament and state Assemblies.

The 106th Amendment Act, passed by Parliament in September 2023, provides for reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies, including within the existing Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes quotas. The law is widely seen as a culmination of a legislative effort spanning nearly three decades to enhance women’s representation in elected bodies.

However, the implementation of the reservation was made conditional upon the completion of a fresh Census and a subsequent delimitation exercise. This meant that while the law had been enacted, its operational rollout required further legislative and administrative steps.

The April 16 notification assumes significance in this context as it brings the constitutional amendment into force, coinciding with the government’s move to introduce a set of three Bills in Parliament aimed at enabling its implementation. These include the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes to expand the strength of the Lok Sabha, the Delimitation Bill, 2026 to redraw constituencies, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

Together, these measures are designed to address the operational requirements of the 2023 law. The expansion of seats is intended to accommodate reservation without reducing existing constituencies, while delimitation will determine how seats are redistributed and reserved based on population data.

The notification also aligns with the government’s stated timeline of implementing women’s reservation from the 2029 general elections, following completion of the delimitation process.

The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is expected to significantly alter the composition of legislative bodies by ensuring that women occupy at least one-third of the seats. It also provides for rotation of reserved constituencies, ensuring broader representation over time.

While the law has received broad political backing, its linkage with delimitation has remained a key point of debate, particularly on how seat redistribution across states will be carried out.

With the notification now in place and the enabling Bills under consideration in Parliament, the legislative process has moved into the implementation phase of what is one of the most consequential electoral reforms in recent years.