{"id":72904,"date":"2025-11-11T11:21:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T05:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=72904"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:26:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T05:56:46","slug":"womens-reservation-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/womens-reservation-law\/","title":{"rendered":"SC Seeks Implementation of Women\u2019s Reservation Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Reservation Law Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court has described women as the \u201clargest minority\u201d and sought the Centre\u2019s response on enforcing the Women\u2019s Reservation Act, 2023, which remains unimplemented pending the next Census and delimitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Political Representation of Women in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women constitute <\/span><b>48.4% of India\u2019s population<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Census 2011), yet their political representation remains disproportionately low.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, women hold only <\/span><b>14.94% of seats in the Lok Sabha<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>13% in State Assemblies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a figure far below the global average of 26.5%.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the <\/span><b>local governance level<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, women\u2019s representation is significantly higher, about <\/span><b>46%<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Panchayati Raj Institutions, owing to the <\/span><b>73<\/b><b>rd<\/b><b> and 74<\/b><b>th<\/b><b> Constitutional Amendments (1993)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> mandating one-third reservation for women.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India ranks <\/span><b>141<\/b><b>st<\/b><b> out of 186 countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the <\/span><b>Inter-Parliamentary Union\u2019s 2024 ranking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on women\u2019s representation in national parliaments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Women\u2019s Reservation Act, 2023<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Women\u2019s Reservation Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> received Presidential assent in 2023, thereby becoming the <\/span><b>Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The amendment inserted <\/span><b>Article 334A<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into the Constitution, which provides for <\/span><b>33% reservation of seats<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for women in the <\/span><b>Lok Sabha<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>State Legislative Assemblies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and the <\/span><b>Delhi Assembly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the implementation of this reservation is tied to the <\/span><b>completion of the next Census<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the subsequent <\/span><b>delimitation process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the redrawing of constituencies based on updated population data.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The petitioner has challenged this condition, calling it <\/span><b>\u201cunjustified and dilatory.\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She contends that the Act should be implemented immediately, arguing that other constitutional amendments, such as the <\/span><b>73<\/b><b>rd<\/b><b> and 74<\/b><b>th<\/b><b> Amendments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which introduced one-third reservation for women in <\/span><b>Panchayati Raj<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>urban local bodies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, were enforced without linking them to Census data.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Supreme Court\u2019s Observations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna observed that women, despite constituting nearly half of India\u2019s population, remain <\/span><b>underrepresented in legislative bodies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She described them as the <\/span><b>\u201clargest minority\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, invoking the <\/span><b>Preamble\u2019s guarantee of political and social equality<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and citing <\/span><b>Article 15(3)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the Constitution, which empowers the State to make special provisions for women\u2019s advancement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWho is the largest minority in this country? It is the woman, almost 48 per cent. This is about political equality of the woman,\u201d Justice Nagarathna remarked.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bench questioned the rationale behind delaying implementation, especially since <\/span><b>political justice<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, along with social and economic justice, is a core principle of the <\/span><b>Constitution\u2019s preamble<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also noted that the <\/span><b>underrepresentation of women in Parliament and Assemblies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> continues even after <\/span><b>75 years of independence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The advocate representing the petitioner argued that the government should not defer the reservation until the Census and delimitation are completed, as no timeline for these exercises has been defined.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Case for Immediate Implementation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The petition urged the court to declare the words <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cafter an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census are published\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Article 334A as <\/span><b>void ab initio<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, allowing immediate implementation of the reservation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The petitioner also drew parallels with other constitutional amendments that were implemented without preconditions:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>73<\/b><b>rd<\/b><b> &amp; 74<\/b><b>th<\/b><b> Amendments (1993):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Introduced one-third reservation for women in local governance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>77<\/b><b>th<\/b><b> Amendment (1995):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Provided reservation in promotions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/103rd-constitutional-amendment-act\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>103<\/b><b>rd<\/b><b> Amendment<\/b><\/a><b> (2019):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Enabled <\/span><b>10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in education and employment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The petitioner argued that the <\/span><b>delay in women\u2019s representation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Parliament and Assemblies was contrary to the <\/span><b>constitutional principles of equality and justice<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Justice Nagarathna underscored that <\/span><b>Article 15(3)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Article 39(a)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the <\/span><b>Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> empower the State to ensure equal participation of women in public life.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Political representation, she noted, is <\/span><b>integral to women\u2019s empowerment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and a precondition for achieving genuine democracy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She further emphasised that <\/span><b>political justice<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution, is incomplete without <\/span><b>equal representation for women<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in lawmaking bodies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Supreme Court refrained from issuing directions that could override the executive\u2019s domain, it urged the Centre to clarify its stance and timeline for implementation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union government has maintained that the <\/span><b>reservation will take effect only after the next Census and delimitation exercise<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which have been pending since 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, no definitive schedule has been announced for these processes, leading to concerns that the law could be <\/span><b>indefinitely delayed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts suggest that an <\/span><b>interim framework<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as the <\/span><b>temporary allocation of reserved constituencies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, could be introduced to operationalise the law before the next general election.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Political analysts also note that early implementation would not only enhance women\u2019s participation but could also <\/span><b>reshape the political landscape<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, fostering more inclusive policymaking.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b><strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/women-largest-minority-of-india-why-not-give-them-representation-without-reservation-sc-asks\/article70261814.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/prsindia.org\/parliamenttrack\/vital-stats\/women-in-parliament-and-state-assemblies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PRS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court has sought the Centre\u2019s response on implementing the Women\u2019s Reservation Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":72920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,3645,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-72904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-reservation-law","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}