The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, is a constitutional amendment act, also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, that mandates a reservation for women in legislative bodies. The Act was introduced to address the persistent problem of low female representation in higher political decision-making, a legislative goal first attempted with a bill in 1996. The Act was passed by Parliament in September 2023 and received the President's assent on September 28, 2023.
The core mechanism of the Act is the reservation of, as nearly as possible, one-third of the total seats for women in the Lok Sabha, the State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. This is achieved by inserting three new articles: Article 330A for the Lok Sabha, Article 332A for State Assemblies, and an amendment to Article 239AA for the Delhi Assembly. The reservation also applies to seats already reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
The Act connects directly to the earlier 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, 1992, which mandated a similar one-third reservation for women in local bodies (Panchayats and Municipalities). The implementation mechanism, detailed in Article 334A, stipulates that the reservation will only come into effect after a delimitation exercise is conducted based on the figures of the first census taken after the Act's commencement. The reservation is set to cease after a period of fifteen years from its commencement, unless extended by Parliament. The Act was formally brought into force by a notification on April 16, 2026. However, the government has recently proposed new legislation, including the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, to enable the delimitation to be based on the 2011 census instead of a future one, aiming to expedite the implementation of the women's reservation.