New Delhi: Women’s groups, activists and civil society members have voiced strong concerns over the manner in which the government is proceeding with proposed legislations on women’s reservation and delimitation, to be taken up in Parliament later this week.
They reiterated, however, their support for the principle of quota for women in legislatures.
In an open letter addressed to MPs, a collective of women’s organisations and individuals criticised what they described as a “hurried move” to convene a session amid ongoing state elections and the Model Code of Conduct.
“We deplore the hurried move to call this joint session of Parliament when several state elections are ongoing,” the letter said, adding that there had been a “failure of the government to give adequate time for women’s groups to place their recommendations”.
The petition has been signed by 488 activists from across 95 cities and districts. Prominent signatories include Ammu Joseph, Anjana Prakash, Kalpana Kannabiran, Romila Thapar, Nandini Sundar, Urvashi Butalia and Yogendra Yadav, among others.
The signatories argued that the session can still achieve “some positive results” if its focus is limited to “necessary amendments” to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. They suggested an amendment to the law to remove all references linking women’s reservation to census findings and delimitation.
“At a flat 33 per cent of all seats, women’s reservation is not linked to population counts or legislatures’ expansion, it can be applied to the current or any strength of the legislatures. The breakup of these 33 per cent state-wise can be according to the states’ seat shares and revised following every legislature expansion,” it said.
They also expressed concerns over the role of the Election Commission in identifying reserved seats, citing “grave doubts of the impartiality” of the institution, and proposed that the process be handled by Special State Committees comprising representatives of election bodies, political parties and independent candidates, with at least one-third women members.
While supporting the early implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the petition stressed that issues such as the proposed expansion of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats required “in-depth discussion” and should be taken up separately. It also called for additional measures, including state funding for election campaigns of marginalised women and a separate constitutional amendment to extend reservation to the Rajya Sabha.
In a separate statement, endorsed by a wide group of activists, academics and former civil servants, concerns were raised over what was termed a “complete lack of transparency” surrounding the draft legislations expected to be introduced during the session.
“We are writing to express our deep concern about the complete lack of transparency regarding the draft legislations proposed to be taken up,” the statement said, noting that information about the bills was reaching the public only through media reports based on unnamed sources.
Among those endorsing the statement are Anjali Bhardwaj, Jayati Ghosh, Zoya Hasan, Annie Raja, Nivedita Menon, K Sujatha Rao, Harsh Mander, Nikhil Dey, Teesta Setalvad and Yamini Aiyar.
The signatories pointed out that the proposed laws could significantly reshape India’s electoral system, including a reported 50 per cent increase in seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. “The laws will fundamentally re-shape India’s electoral democracy and impact every voter in the country,” the statement said.
Calling the process a violation of established norms, the statement said the government had failed to adhere to the Pre-legislative Consultation Policy, which mandates placing draft laws in the public domain for feedback before Cabinet approval. It described the situation as a “flagrant violation of peoples’ fundamental right to information”.
While expressing unequivocal support for women’s reservation, the signatories criticised the manner in which the reforms were being introduced. “It is a profound irony to introduce legislation for women’s empowerment while simultaneously excluding women from the conversation,” the statement said, adding that such a “historic” reform required “transparent debate, public scrutiny and the inclusion of diverse voices”.
The Union Cabinet has cleared draft bills to operationalise the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The proposed changes include increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816 seats, with 273 seats reserved for women.The legislative package is expected to include a Constitution amendment bill to modify provisions of the Act, alongside amendments to the Delimitation Act to enable redrawing of constituencies in line with the expanded House strength.
Another bill is also likely to extend the implementation of the reservation framework to Union territories with legislatures — Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry.
