No man or state will be hit: Law Minister on women's reservation
Law Minister Arjun Meghwal said the main objective of the bill is to give women their due rights. The government has come up with a simple formula to ensure no man or state suffers from the implementation of the quota, he assured.
In a bid to allay concerns over the women’s reservation bill, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday that "no man or state" will be adversely affected by its implementation.
His assurance came after the Centre introduced three key bills -- including a constitutional amendment and a delimitation exercise -- to operationalise the proposed 33 per cent quota for women, triggering blowback from the Opposition.
"The main objective of the bill is to give women their due rights," Meghwal said on the first of the three-day special session of Parliament.
Laying out the framework, the Minister said the plan hinges on expanding the Lok Sabha to ensure uniform implementation of the one-third quota. The House’s strength would rise by 50 per cent to 815 seats, of which 272 would be reserved for women.
"This is a simple formula, and no one is harmed by it," he said. "Neither men nor any state will be harmed. The strength of states will remain the same in the future."
The quota, however, will kick in only after a delimitation exercise based on Census data expected after 2026, effectively pushing implementation beyond the 2029 Lok Sabha election unless changes are made.
Meghwal said the proposed amendments were necessary because, under the current framework of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, reservation of constituencies would not be feasible in 2029 due to the timing of Census data.
He added that sub-quotas for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes women would be built into the framework in both Parliament and state assemblies.
The Lok Sabha took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage after a combative 40-minute discussion, with the Opposition demanding a division of votes.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party opposed the move, questioning both the timing and the structure of the legislation.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP KC Venugopal called the bills to tweak the women’s quota law and set up a delimitation panel "anti-constitutional", and demanded why such provisions were not included when Parliament passed the original law.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav backed the idea of reservation for women but questioned the urgency. He also pitched a separate quota for Muslim women.
Meghwal urged parties to rise above politics and back the legislation.
In a bid to allay concerns over the women’s reservation bill, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday that "no man or state" will be adversely affected by its implementation.
His assurance came after the Centre introduced three key bills -- including a constitutional amendment and a delimitation exercise -- to operationalise the proposed 33 per cent quota for women, triggering blowback from the Opposition.
"The main objective of the bill is to give women their due rights," Meghwal said on the first of the three-day special session of Parliament.
Laying out the framework, the Minister said the plan hinges on expanding the Lok Sabha to ensure uniform implementation of the one-third quota. The House’s strength would rise by 50 per cent to 815 seats, of which 272 would be reserved for women.
"This is a simple formula, and no one is harmed by it," he said. "Neither men nor any state will be harmed. The strength of states will remain the same in the future."
The quota, however, will kick in only after a delimitation exercise based on Census data expected after 2026, effectively pushing implementation beyond the 2029 Lok Sabha election unless changes are made.
Meghwal said the proposed amendments were necessary because, under the current framework of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, reservation of constituencies would not be feasible in 2029 due to the timing of Census data.
He added that sub-quotas for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes women would be built into the framework in both Parliament and state assemblies.
The Lok Sabha took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage after a combative 40-minute discussion, with the Opposition demanding a division of votes.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party opposed the move, questioning both the timing and the structure of the legislation.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP KC Venugopal called the bills to tweak the women’s quota law and set up a delimitation panel "anti-constitutional", and demanded why such provisions were not included when Parliament passed the original law.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav backed the idea of reservation for women but questioned the urgency. He also pitched a separate quota for Muslim women.
Meghwal urged parties to rise above politics and back the legislation.
