New Delhi: The Budget session of Parliament is set to continue beyond its scheduled close, with the government weighing a short reconvening later this month to advance key legislative changes linked to women’s representation in elected bodies, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The session, which began on January 28 and was slated to conclude on April 2, is now expected to be adjourned on Thursday with an announcement that both Houses will meet again for two to three days in the third week of April. “The House will not be adjourned sine die but will be adjourned with the announcement that it will meet again on a specific date. We will meet again very soon, in this month itself,” a source said.
During the proposed extension, the government is likely to introduce a Constitution amendment Bill to modify provisions of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the law that provides for reservation of seats for women in legislatures. The move is aimed at facilitating an increase in the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816 seats, of which 273 would be reserved for women. Officials indicated that the reservation would operate on a vertical basis, incorporating quotas for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within the women’s quota. The redrawing of parliamentary constituencies is expected to rely on data from the 2011 Census rather than waiting for the next census exercise proposed for 2027.
A parallel exercise is also envisaged for state assemblies, where seats would be reserved for women on a proportional basis.
The legislative package is expected to include, besides the Constitution amendment, a separate Bill to revise the Delimitation Act. Once cleared by Parliament, the changes are projected to take effect from March 31, 2029, enabling implementation ahead of the subsequent Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls in states such as Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh. Sources said Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently held consultations with several NDA allies and some non-Congress opposition leaders on the proposal. Talks with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress are yet to be held.
The women’s reservation framework was enacted in 2023 through the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act after receiving presidential assent from Droupadi Murmu. However, its rollout is contingent on a delimitation exercise.
Officials stressed that delimitation would be conducted by an independent commission whose decisions are binding and not subject to judicial review. “A neutral body will instil faith in the process,” a functionary said, adding that while the Election Commission is an independent authority, it is not designed to carry out a nationwide delimitation exercise, though it has handled limited exercises such as in Assam.
Apart from delimitation, the allocation of reserved constituencies could also follow a system of rotation, officials indicated.