One Hundred and Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of India

The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023
Parliament of India
  • An Act further to amend the Constitution of India.
Territorial extentIndia
Enacted byLok Sabha
Enacted20 September 2023
Enacted byRajya Sabha
Enacted21 September 2023
Assented to byPresident Droupadi Murmu
Assented to28 September 2023
Date of expiry15 years after enactment
Legislative history
First chamber: Lok Sabha
Bill titleThe Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023
Introduced byMinister of Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal
Introduced19 September 2023
Passed20 September 2023
Voting summary
  • 454 voted for
  • 2 voted against
  • None abstained
Second chamber: Rajya Sabha
Bill titleThe Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023
Received from the Lok Sabha20 September 2023
Passed21 September 2023
Voting summary
  • 214 voted for
  • None voted against
  • None abstained
Summary
To reserve, as nearly as maybe, 33 percent of seats for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Keywords
Women reservation, 33 percent reservation
Status: Current legislation

The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, popularly known as the Women's Reservation Bill, 2023 (ISO 15919: Nārī Śakti Vandan Adhiniyam), was introduced in Lok Sabha on 19 September 2023 during the special session of Parliament. This legislation seeks to allocate 33 percent of the seats in the directly elected Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies and Delhi legislative assembly for women.

The bill is the possible culmination of a legislative debate that had been ongoing for 27 years, including the lapsed Women's Reservation Bill (2010), due to the lack of consensus among political parties. The bill was the first that was considered in the new parliament building. On 20 September 2023, Lok Sabha passed the bill with 454 votes in favour and two against. The Rajya Sabha passed the bill unanimously with 214 votes in favour and none against, on 21 September 2023. President Droupadi Murmu signed the bill on 28 September 2023, and the gazette notification was also published the same day, which made it clear that the reservation will come into force soon after the first delimitation (frozen until 2026).