Women's Reservation (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) Act 2023

Story hook

On 19 September 2023, the brand-new Parliament building hosted its first ever debate. The bill that would inaugurate the new chamber: the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, popularly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — the Women's Reservation Bill. PM Modi rose: "Today, on the historic occasion of the inauguration of the new Parliament, the very first bill being passed will reserve 33% of seats for our daughters and sisters in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies."

The bill passed the Lok Sabha 454-2 the next day; the Rajya Sabha unanimously 215-0 the day after; received Presidential assent on 28 September 2023; and was notified into law on 29 September 2023 as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023. It became — as Sonia Gandhi put it in her speech of support — "the longest awaited piece of legislation in Indian parliamentary history." The Women's Reservation Bill had been introduced 27 years earlier, in September 1996 by the Deve Gowda government. It had been defeated, abandoned, re-introduced, passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and lapsed in Lok Sabha — five separate attempts had failed.

Yet there is a catch. The Act will come into force only after the next census and a delimitation exercise — both of which are pending. It is, in effect, a constitutional amendment whose operation has been deferred to an unknown future date. The longest-fought victory is also the most delayed.

Why this matters for UPSC

The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is the most significant constitutional amendment of the 2020s — and it engages a long Mains-style storyline (1996-2023), a Prelims-friendly set of facts (Articles inserted, percentages, deferment), and a live Interview-style "what should happen next?" question. Every UPSC paper from 2024 onwards has touched on or could touch on this Act.