The One Hundred and Sixth Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023 — Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — has come into force, reserving one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies, including Delhi's. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju confirmed the notification has been issued. The Act was passed by Parliament in 2023 but its implementation was delayed. PM Modi described feminine power as the hallmark of a strong India.

The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, inserting Articles 330A and 332A into the Constitution to mandate rotational reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies (including Delhi's NCT Assembly). The seats reserved will rotate after each delimitation exercise, meaning no single constituency is permanently reserved.

A crucial structural condition underlies the Act: the reservation will only take effect after the next delimitation exercise following the first census conducted after the Act's commencement. This means the actual reservation of seats is contingent on two prior events — a fresh census and a fresh delimitation — neither of which has yet occurred. This distinction between the Act coming into force and the reservation actually being operational is the most exam-testable nuance.

Historically, women's reservation bills were introduced multiple times — as early as 1996 — but were never passed by Parliament until 2023. The Act covers Lok Sabha, all State Assemblies, and the NCT of Delhi but does not cover the Rajya Sabha or State Legislative Councils. Within the reserved one-third, seats are also sub-reserved for SC and ST women in proportion to their existing quotas.

The Bihar Panchayat experience is often cited as a model: over 50% of elected Panchayat members are women, demonstrating that reservation creates a pipeline of women leaders over successive election cycles.