{"id":30539,"date":"2026-10-01T17:02:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T11:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=30539"},"modified":"2026-10-01T17:17:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T11:47:38","slug":"106th-constitutional-amendment-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/106th-constitutional-amendment-act\/","title":{"rendered":"106th Constitutional Amendment Act, Provisions, Implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, popularly called the Women Reservation Act 2023 or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, provides for the reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It seeks to strengthen women\u2019s representation in legislative bodies and promote greater gender participation in law-making.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The reservation is linked to a future delimitation exercise following the publication of the first Census conducted after the Amendment. The Act therefore represents a significant constitutional step towards political representation of women, while its timing and implementation have also raised concerns regarding the delay before the reservation becomes operational.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Background<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, emerged from the need to increase women\u2019s representation in legislative institutions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Earlier Representation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Women\u2019s representation in legislatures remained comparatively limited despite their substantial participation in local governance.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Constitutional Precedent:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) introduced a one-third reservation for women in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/panchayati-raj-institutions\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Panchayati Raj Institutions<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and Municipalities, providing a precedent for political representation.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Legislative Initiative:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was introduced during the Special Session of Parliament in September 2023.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Parliamentary Approval:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 20 September 2023 and by the Rajya Sabha on 21 September 2023. The President gave assent on 28 September 2023, creating the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Women Reservation Act 2023<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Women Reservation Act 2023 is formally known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. It is also popularly called the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Act provides for a constitutional guarantee of women\u2019s reservation in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The reservation will cover one-third of seats filled through direct election. It will also include one-third of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Objectives<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Amendment was primarily aimed at addressing the under-representation of women in legislative institutions and creating a stronger basis for their participation in political decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Greater Political Participation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To increase women\u2019s presence in representative institutions and encourage their active role in democratic governance.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/women-empowerment\/\" target=\"_blank\">Women\u2019s Empowerment<\/a>:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To strengthen the political voice of women and enable greater participation in the process of law-making and public policy.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Inclusive Democracy:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To make legislative institutions more representative of the gender composition of Indian society.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Gender Equality:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To advance the constitutional goal of equality by addressing the historical under-representation of women in political institutions.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Provisions<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, introduced specific constitutional provisions to provide a one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and the Delhi Legislative Assembly.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Women\u2019s Reservation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Act requires that, as nearly as possible, one-third of the total seats filled by direct election in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies must be reserved for women.<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The one-third reservation includes seats reserved for women from SC and ST communities.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>SC\/ST Women\u2019s Reservation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Constitution already reserves seats in the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/lok-sabha\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Lok Sabha<\/strong><\/a> and State Assemblies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The 106th Amendment provides that, as nearly as possible, one-third of SC-reserved and ST-reserved seats must be reserved for women belonging to these communities.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Delimitation-Based Implementation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Introduced a mechanism under which the reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise undertaken following the publication of the first census conducted after commencement of the Amendment.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Rotation of Reserved Seats:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Act provides that reserved seats for women will be rotated after each subsequent delimitation exercise, as Parliament may determine by law.<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seat rotation aims to distribute reservation benefits across different constituencies over time. However, frequent rotation may also create uncertainty for elected representatives and voters.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Time-Limited Reservation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The reservation is intended to operate for 15 years from the commencement of the relevant constitutional provisions. Parliament may extend this period through another constitutional amendment if it considers continuation necessary.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act New Constitutional Articles Inserted<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, introduced new constitutional provisions to establish a one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, subject to the Census and delimitation process.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Article 330A \u2013 Lok Sabha:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It introduced a one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, including one-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Article 332A \u2013 State Legislative Assemblies:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Amendment introduced a one-third reservation for women in every State Legislative Assembly, including one-third of the SC\/ST reserved seats.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Article 334A \u2013 Implementation and Duration:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It also introduced the operational framework for women\u2019s reservation, linking its implementation to the Census and subsequent delimitation, while providing for 15 years of reservation from its commencement.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Article 239AA \u2013 Delhi Assembly:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Amendment also modified Article 239AA to extend one-third reservation for women to the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, including within SC-reserved seats.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Implementation and Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The One Hundred and Sixth Amendment to the Indian Constitution was formally notified and went into effect on April 16, 2026, while its practical seat allocation implementation is still dependent on the next census and delimitation procedure.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>First Census after the Amendment:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It introduced a requirement that the first Census conducted after commencement of the Amendment must be completed and its relevant figures published before the reservation can become operational.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Delimitation Exercise:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After publication of the relevant Census figures, a delimitation exercise is required to identify and reserve one-third of the seats for women. Thus, Census \u2192 Delimitation \u2192 Implementation is the constitutional sequence.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>2027 Census:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> As of 2026, the next Census has a reference date of 1 March 2027. The 2026 legislative proposals noted that the 106th Amendment's reservation framework was linked to the first Census after its commencement.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>2029 Lok Sabha Election:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Under the existing 106th Amendment framework, the reservation is not automatically applicable to the 2029 Lok Sabha election; its applicability depends on completion of the constitutionally required Census and subsequent delimitation.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Significance<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 106th Amendment is significant for strengthening women\u2019s participation in legislative decision-making and addressing their historically limited representation in elected bodies.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Greater Political Representation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Reservation can increase women\u2019s presence in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, making legislative institutions more inclusive.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Inclusive Lawmaking: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">More women legislators can bring greater attention to issues such as public health, nutrition, education, gender-based violence, sanitation, childcare, safety, livelihoods, and access to public services.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Women\u2019s Empowerment:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Greater representation in decision-making bodies can strengthen women\u2019s political participation and provide opportunities for them to assume leadership roles.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Labour Force Participation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The article identifies the potential for increased political representation to contribute to policies and conditions that support women\u2019s participation in the workforce.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Safer Public Spaces:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Greater participation of women in legislative institutions can help bring stronger attention to women\u2019s safety and gender-specific concerns in public policy.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Criticism<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Amendment marks a major change in women\u2019s political representation, but its implementation mechanism, timing, and design have raised several concerns.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Delayed Implementation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Reservation is linked to the first Census conducted after the commencement of the Amendment and the subsequent delimitation exercise, meaning the constitutional provision does not automatically translate into immediate reservation.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Time-bound Reservation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Article 334A provides for reservation for 15 years from its commencement, raising questions about its continuation after this period and the basis for deciding its extension.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Representation in Rajya Sabha:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Amendment covers the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, but does not provide similar reservation in the Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Councils, leaving women\u2019s representation in these chambers outside its framework.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Small-State Representation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The \u201cone-out-of-three\u201d formula can create practical difficulties for States and Union Territories that elect fewer than three members to the Lok Sabha, as allocating one-third of seats becomes difficult.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Intersectional Representation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Although one-third of SC\/ST-reserved seats are also reserved for women from these categories, the framework does not create a separate quota for OBC women, leading to demands for broader representation.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act Way Forward<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The effective implementation of the Amendment requires timely institutional processes along with measures that ensure meaningful and substantive participation of women in legislative politics.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Timely Implementation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Complete the required Census and delimitation processes in a transparent and timely manner so that the reservation becomes operational without avoidable delays.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Broader Representation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Consider ways to improve representation of women from diverse social and economic backgrounds, including addressing concerns regarding OBC women.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Institutional Support:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Strengthen mechanisms such as parliamentary committees, research assistance, and legislative training to enable women representatives to participate effectively in law-making.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Continuity and Accountability:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Design the rotation of reserved constituencies carefully so that it does not undermine long-term constituency development and accountability.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">106th Constitutional Amendment Act UPSC PYQs<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><b>Q1: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe 106th Constitutional Amendment Act marks a significant step towards enhancing women\u2019s political representation in India.\u201d Examine its key provisions and critically analyse the challenges associated with its implementation. <\/span><b>(UPSC Mains 2026)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, provides a one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. Read about the 106th CAA, Provisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":30572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,27],"tags":[2088,40,632],"class_list":["post-30539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-notes","category-upsc-polity-notes","tag-106th-constitutional-amendment-act","tag-quest","tag-upsc-polity-notes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30539"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30575,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30539\/revisions\/30575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}