'If PM Modi is Sincere...': 529 Eminent Citizens Demand Immediate Rollout of Women's Reservation Bill
New Delhi: A coalition of 529 activists, retired bureaucrats, academics, lawyers and trade union leaders has issued an appeal demanding that the government implement the Women’s Reservation Act (106th Constitutional Amendment), 2023 without further delay in the upcoming monsoon session of parliament.
The National Coalition for Women's Reservation, in a memorandum addressed to chief ministers, MPs, MLAs, councillors and panchayat representatives, trade union and civil rights associations across the country, underlined that the 106th constitutional amendment, passed by parliament in 2023, has been stalled for three years due to its linkage to the Census and the delimitation exercise, a connection the group says has no real legal or practical basis.
"At a flat 33% of seats, women's reservation can be implemented in the current or any size of legislatures," the memorandum states, calling on the government to delete all references to the Census and delimitation from the Act. The coalition has laid out four specific demands.
First, it wants the conditionality removed entirely, so that the reservation can take effect regardless of when the next Census or delimitation exercise happens.
Second, it suggests that the 33% of reserved seats should be distributed among states according to their existing share of seats in parliament. The signatories point out that this measure will strengthen India's "federal compact" and "recognise the less populous states’ concerns".
Third, the group calls for for the creation of special state committees to oversee how the reserved seats are allocated, rather than leaving the task solely to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Also read: BJP’s Rejiggered Strategy on Delimitation and Women’s Reservation Is No Less Worrisome
Citing widespread public distrust of the ECI, the coalition suggests that each committee should include ten to 15 MPs and MLAs nominated by party leaderships, at least a third of them women, alongside one national and one state-level Election Commission official, with decisions made by majority vote and no veto power for the ECI.
Fourth, the memorandum calls for dedicated Union and state government funding to support the election campaigns of women candidates from marginalised groups, including OBCs, de-notified tribes, persons with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community, to help level the playing field against better-resourced rivals.
The memorandum situates the current demand within a long history of legislative attempts at women's representation. It traces it back to the 1975 Towards Equality report and the introduction of reservation for women in panchayats under the Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao governments.
It also recalls a string of earlier Bills that failed to become law, a private member's Bill by the Janata Party's Premila Dandavate, a government Bill introduced by the Communist Party of India (CPI)'s Geeta Mukherjee during H.D. Deve Gowda's tenure, and further attempts under Manmohan Singh's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The signatories including Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, retired IAS officer Aditi Mehta, advocate Gyanendra Kumar, painter and author Ashok Bhaumik, and economist Ashwini Deshpande argue that the 2023 passage of the Act, after decades of failed attempts, raised hopes that were then "dashed by delay due to the false linkage to delimitation."
"If Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi is sincere about his proclaimed commitment to women’s reservation, he should instruct the Union Law Ministry to bring the above amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act in the monsoon 2026 session of parliament," the memorandum mentions.
This article went live on July first, two thousand twenty six, at seventeen minutes past five in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
