The Constitution (128thAmendment) Bill, 2023 (Women’s Reservation Bill), By PRS Legislative Research Institute for Policy Research Studies

The 73rd and 74th Amendments passed in 1993, which introduced panchayats and municipalities in the Constitution, reserve one-third of seats for women in these bodies.

The Constitution also provides for reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in proportion to their number in the population. The Constitution does not provide for reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. Some members of the Constituent Assembly had opposed reserving seats for women in legislatures.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on
September 19, 2023. The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats in Lok Sabha and state
legislative assemblies for women.

Key features of the Bill
▪ Reservation for women: The Bill reserves, as nearly as may be, one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha,
state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. This will
also apply to the seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and states legislatures.
▪ Commencement of reservation: The reservation will be effective after the census conducted after the
commencement of this Bill has been published. Based on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve
seats for women. The reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years. However, it shall continue till such
date as determined by a law made by Parliament.
▪ Rotation of seats: Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law
made by Parliament.

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