NEW DELHI: The government has announced that the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, which reserves one-third of seats for women in the House of the People and the legislative assemblies of all states and the Union Territory of Delhi, will come into effect on April 16, 2026. Additionally, the provisions for women’s reservation in relevant laws for the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry, also established in 2023, will be activated on April 17, 2026. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification to formalize this timeline.
The 2023 Constitution amendment aims to facilitate women’s representation in the House of the People and in the legislative assemblies across all states and the Union Territory of Delhi. Similar provisions were introduced for Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir through the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Act, 2023, and the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Act, respectively.
Despite this progress, three bills related to the implementation of women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures—the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026—were defeated in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The 2023 amendment states that women’s reservation will become operational following the first delimitation based on the census that occurs after these Acts are commenced, with the next relevant census scheduled for April 1, 2026, to March 1, 2027.
