Union Govt tables three Bills to tweak women's quota law and set up delimitation panel in Lok Sabha

On Thursday, Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Amit Shah introduced three bills aimed at amending the women’s reservation law and establishing a delimitation panel in Lok Sabha. The proposal were strongly criticised by the opposition, calling them “anti-constitutional” and a threat to country's federal structure.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which seeks changes to the women’s quota law, was tabled after a formal vote division. Alongside it, two other bills, the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill was also introduced to extend the revised quota provisions to Union Territories such as Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress leader KC Venugopal questioned why these changes were not included when Parliament originally passed the women’s quota law, arguing that the new proposals violate constitutional principles. Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party supported women’s reservation but criticised the urgency, asking "why not hold a census?"

Responding to the criticism, Shah said that the 2027 Census is underway and confirmed plans for caste enumeration, while reiterating that religion-based reservation is unconstitutional.

The Bills were introduced after a fiery 40-minute debate following which the opposition pressed for the division of votes to introduce the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill. The Bill was later introduced with 251 members supporting it and 185 members voting against the introduction.

Members of the DMK staged a protest in the Lok Sabha by wearing black attire. Party leader TR Baalu stated that while they support the 2023 women’s reservation law, the current bill is primarily focused on delimitation. Similarly, RSP leader NK Premachandran argued that the amendment is more about redrawing constituencies than ensuring reservation.

Venugopal said a Constitutional amendment bill cannot be discussed together with other ordinary bills. Shah, however, rejected his objection saying it can be done.

Speaker Om Birla cited precedents to say that the Constitution amendment Bill can be discussed with other Bills as they relate to the same subject.

According to the proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats could rise from 543 to a maximum of 850 to implement the women’s reservation policy ahead of the 2029 general elections, following delimitation based on the 2011 Census. State and Union Territory assemblies would also see an increase in seats to accommodate a 33 per cent quota for women.

Meanwhile, several opposition parties have agreed to jointly oppose the delimitation-related provisions in the amendment, while maintaining their support for women’s reservation in legislatures.

(With PTI Inputs)