Women's Reservation Bill Gets Presidential Nod | Here's All About The New Law

The women’s reservation bill was signed into a law with President Droupadi Murmu’s assent on Friday. The central government issued a gazette notification soon after it received the presidential nod. In a historic move, Parliament had passed the bill in Lok Sabha with near unanimity and Rajya Sabha with unanimity during a special session earlier this month.

Vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar signed the Constitution amendment Bill as passed by Parliament on Thursday (September 28) before it was sent to the President for her assent.

What is the new law all about?

The Women’s Reservation Act or the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, which will now be inserted into the Constitution as Article 334A, gives 33 percent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. It will, however, take some time before being implemented. The next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise, which is the redrawing of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies, will ascertain the seats being earmarked for women candidates.

There are two major caveats when it comes to the law: a census has to be held, and only after that can the redrawing of constituencies take place, which is called delimitation. Both conditions are so far unfulfilled and can take years. This is why, during the debate in Parliament, members also highlighted the need to accelerate the process instead of waiting for a fresh census and delimitation exercise.

Article 334A states that the reservation shall come into effect following the delimitation after relevant figures for the first census have been published.

A long-pending demand and first introduced in Parliament 27 years ago, Parliament passed the Bill on September 20. On the day it was passed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said women’s reservation will play a significant role in empowering women and enhancing nari shakti. While the Congress demanded its immediate implementation and OBC quota within the one-third reservation for women, it supported the bill wholeheartedly in both Houses of Parliament.