The Times of India front page report states: Women's Quota Bill seeks to increase the lower house seats to 850 based on the 2011 census.

New Delhi: The government is pushing legislation to reserve one-third of seats in Parliament and state legislative assemblies, which involves raising the upper limit of seats in the lower house from 550 to 850.

The allocation of seats among states, reserved constituencies, and their boundaries will be determined by a delimitation commission based on the latest census—in this case, the 2011 census. These details come from the bill distributed to legislators ahead of the three-day parliamentary session from April 6 to 8.

In September 2023, India’s Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), with Constitutional Amendment 128 formally establishing a 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

Under the latest plan, the total number of Lok Sabha seats will increase from 543 to 816, with 273 seats specifically reserved for women.

A recent development in April 2026 shows that the government has decided to use 2011 census data for constituency delimitation to accelerate implementation, aiming to implement the changes before the 2029 general elections.

The reserved seats for women will follow a "vertical distribution" model, meaning that within existing seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), proportional female-only seats will be designated to ensure that women from marginalized communities also benefit.

Many experts analyze the controversy and limitations surrounding this women's representative quota:

1. Exclusion of Other Backward Classes (OBC) women: OBCs constitute about 52% of India's population, yet the bill does not establish separate quotas for OBC women, drawing criticism that it may primarily benefit women from upper castes.

2. Concerns over delayed implementation: Opposition figures such as Sonia Gandhi have urged immediate implementation, arguing that delay constitutes a "serious injustice to women."

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862492950406156/

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