Women's Reservation Bill to come into effect after next delimitation exercise; details here

The Union government on Tuesday introduced the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha. It is the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill that seeks to reserve one-third or 33 per cent of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. 

Formally known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the bill was introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the first sitting of the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. Speaking on the Constitutional amendment bill, Meghwal said the number of women members in the Lok Sabha will rise to 181, from 82 currently, after the bill comes into force.

However, the legislation will come into effect after the next delimitation exercise. The present delimitation of constituencies has been done on the basis of the 2001 census.  The next delimitation is scheduled to be conducted after 2026. It will be based on the population of the first census conducted after 2026.

The exercise is conducted by the Delimitation Commission which redraws the boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on a recent census. The representation from each state is not changed during this exercise. However, the number of SC and ST seats in a state is changed in accordance with the census. 

Discussion for passing of the bill in the House will be taken up on September 20. The bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 sources said.

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