Lok Sabha seats to increase from 543 to 816; New bill on the way

Even after three-quarters of a century since independence, the patriarchal system remains cardinal for major political parties. Despite the talk of equal rights, women are still marginalised in every political party when it comes to selecting candidates and assigning them positions of power.

The patriarchy, over the years, has become formidable like a fortress, making it impossible to be pulled down in one day. The sole idea of ​​women's reservation was to ensure adequate representation of the opposite sex in Parliament.

The first mention of women's representation was made in the report submitted by the committee appointed by the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare to study the status of women in India in 1974. This committee recommended that a certain percentage of seats should be reserved for women in local self-government bodies. However, this was implemented decades later, in 1993, when Articles 73 and 74 of the Constitution were amended to reserve one-third of the seats in local bodies for women. However, women's representation in Parliament and state assemblies has not yet been legally reserved and ensured. Therefore, the presence of women in Parliament and state assemblies is still very low. The Women's Reservation Bill has been passed several times and lapsed with the expiration of the term of Parliament.

Finally, the Constitutional Amendment Bill to expedite the 33 per cent reservation for women is expected to be introduced in Parliament this week. The move is to determine the reservation for women by delimiting the constituencies based on the 2011 census. According to this, the number of Lok Sabha seats will increase from 543 to 816. It is expected that the Lok Sabha seats in Kerala may increase to 30 and the strength of the assembly to 210.

When the Lok Sabha seats reach 816, the total number of seats that can be reserved for women will be 273.

Although the Parliament passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Act of 2023, which ensures reservation for women for one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly, it was stipulated to be implemented in the 2029 general elections. However, the census that began in 2026 will be completed by 2029. Therefore, the new amendment bill is being introduced to remove the old provision included in the bill. The central government has clarified that it will decide on the changes after meeting all the parties. The dream of women's reservation has been going on for more than a quarter of a century. It is hoped that all political parties will cooperate to prevent the delay from happening again.