Centre planning 33% reservation for women ahead of 2029 Lok Sabha polls: Sources
The Narendra Modi-led central government is planning to implement a 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, which is linked to the delimitation exercise, ahead of the 2029 general election, sources told India Today TV on Thursday.Last week, the Centre announced that a nationwide population census will be conducted in 2027, and caste enumeration will be part of the exercise for the first time. The process will be done in two phases, with the snow-bound and non-synchronous areas, including Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, set for October 2026 and the rest of the country in 2027.advertisementSources told India Today TV that the census will be over in two years, and the delimitation will follow based on the fresh population data.
The 33 per cent quota implementation will be in accordance with the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' or the Women's Reservation Bill, 2023, which was passed in September 2023. The bill, which aims to reserve one-third of seats both in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, can only be rolled out using the new figures from the first census conducted soon after its enactment.First introduced way back in 1996 when Deve Gowda was India's Prime Minister, the bill witnessed multiple changes of governments and debates before being passed 27 years later.According to the bill, the system of reserving seats for women would cease to exist 15 years after it comes into effect.advertisementBoth the census and the delimitation exercise have been points of contention between the NDA-led Centre and the Opposition. The 15th and last census in India was conducted in 2011, and was rescheduled from 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, delimitation has been held in India four times - 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002.In a layperson's term, delimitation is the process of updating the number and boundaries of parliamentary and assembly constituencies using the latest population figures. The process ensures that each MP or MLA represents roughly the same number of people, and that the population is fairly represented.Southern states have not been happy about the delimitation exercise, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK boss MK Stalin raising concerns on several occasions. Experts said that if the Lok Sabha seats stay the same, northern and central states such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar could benefit - possibly 31 seats more - while their southern counterparts such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala may lose around 26 seats. The northern states' faster population growth over the past few years is a vital reason behind this difference.
IN THIS STORY#Tamil Nadu#Narendra Modi#Delimitation#Women's Reservation Bill
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