'Don’t Link Delimitation to Women’s Reservations,' Say Over 60 Rights Groups |
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New Delhi: A day ago in New Delhi (April 16), more than 60 women’s organisations and women working in the social sector held a press conference at the Press Club of India and presented their stand on the three bills being debated in parliament.
In a petition submitted to Members of Parliament, women’s organisations said that women’s reservation should not be linked with the upcoming delimitation.
Activists said that the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2026, wrongly links delimitation to women’s reservation as this reservation is not linked to their demographic share in the society. Instead, it is a flat 33% of all legislative seats, and thus, can be implemented at any time.
As the Parliament’s special session unfolds, they have also demanded that the women’s reservation bill and the delimitation bill be kept separate.
Some other suggestions that were given in the press conference, to restore the focus on women are as follows:
The delimitation of seats should take place based on the 2026-27 Census instead of the 2011 Census.
Insertion of new clauses in the 2023 act: To specify that the 33% reserved seats will be allocated to states in proportion to each state’s seat share. To provide state funding for the election campaigns of vulnerable and marginalised women such as those belonging to OBC, LGBTQ, tribal communities, etc.
To specify that the 33% reserved seats will be allocated to states in proportion to each state’s seat share.
To provide state funding for the election campaigns of vulnerable and marginalised women such as those belonging to OBC, LGBTQ, tribal communities, etc.
Along with Lok Sabha, reservation of 33% seats in Rajya Sabha for Women.
Nisha Sidhu, national general secretary of the NFIW and Bhavna Sharma of Anhad highlighted that the Bill has faced many hurdles since its introduction in 1996 and its failure to be implemented for the past three decades represents the patriarchal mindset of the Indian society. But, its usage as a bargaining chip to smuggle in delimitation, which they said goes against the unity of India, has made it humiliating for women, the activists noted.
Advocate Harsha Azad analysed past trends in delimitations and concluded that previous delimitation exercises (before 2014) led to a deviation of not more than 3% of power among the citizens or a region. However the delimitation that took place in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in citizens from Kashmir have 33% less power than those from Jammu.