The 106th Amendment, and Why It Has Not Started

Unpack the conditions. Three things must happen, in order, before a single seat is reserved.

One, a census must be taken after the commencement of the Amendment Act, and its relevant figures published.

Two, an exercise of delimitation must be undertaken for the purpose of the reservation, after those figures are published.

Three, only then do the provisions come into effect.

And a fourth point on duration. The reservation ceases on the expiration of fifteen years from such commencement, subject to clause (2), under which the seats continue till such date as Parliament may by law determine.

Clause (3) provides that rotation of the reserved seats shall take effect after each subsequent exercise of delimitation as Parliament may determine. Clause (4) provides that nothing in the article affects any representation in the existing Houses until their dissolution.

Why nothing has happened

Three facts, in sequence, and they are what a current answer must contain.

The census. The census due in 2021 was not taken. Until a census is taken and its relevant figures published, condition one is not satisfied and the amendment cannot commence.

Delimitation is frozen. Article 82 requires readjustment of the allocation of seats in the House of the People after each census, but the allocation has been frozen by successive amendments, most recently until the first census taken after 2026. So the delimitation the reservation waits for is itself tied to a census that has not been taken and a freeze that has not lifted.

The Bill that would have moved it was defeated. The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 16 April 2026 and was defeated the following day, 17 April 2026, having failed to obtain the special majority article 368 requires. Its object was to implement the one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and in the State and Union territory Assemblies.

So the position as this book is written is that articles 330A and 332A are part of the Constitution and are not in operation, and the route by which they would have been brought into operation sooner has been rejected by Parliament.

Do not write that India has a women's reservation in Parliament. Write that it has enacted one which has not commenced.

The connection to federalism

This is the part that distinguishes an LL.M. answer, and it links topic 4 back to topic 1.

The delimitation on which the reservation waits is not a technical exercise. Readjusting the allocation of seats to population, after a freeze of half a century, will transfer seats from States whose population grew slowly to States whose population grew quickly. The States that would lose relative weight argue that they are being penalised for having succeeded at a national population policy, and they treat the freeze as a bargain that should not be reopened.

The consequence is that the women's reservation has been tied to the most contested federal question in the country. A measure with near-universal political support cannot commence until a measure with deep regional opposition is carried out. That is a drafting choice, and it is a fair subject for criticism: the reservation could have been brought into force on the existing constituencies without waiting for delimitation at all.

See [Cooperative and Competitive Federalism] for the delimitation question in its own right.

Evaluating it, which is what MU asks

The case that it is a real advance. It is the largest constitutional measure ever enacted for women. It reaches the House of the People and every State Assembly. It operates within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe seats, so it does not benefit only women of the general category. And it carries a fifteen-year horizon with provision for extension, which answers the objection that such measures never end.

The case that it is not. It is not in force and there is no date on which it will be. Its commencement is conditioned on two events, neither within the control of those it benefits. It contains no sub-quota for women of the other backward classes. Rotation, on the experience of local government, prevents the accumulation of incumbency, and is here tied to delimitation exercises that occur once in decades. And a reservation that ceases after fifteen years from commencement, when commencement is itself indefinite, is a promise whose duration is measured from a date nobody can name.

The conclusion that the material supports. As an answer to MU's question whether the constitutional measures are satisfactory, the 106th Amendment is the strongest evidence for both sides: it shows that the Constitution is capable of a large and genuine measure for women, and it shows that such a measure can be enacted in a form that does nothing at all.

A worked example

A candidate is asked in April 2026: "Discuss the constitutional provisions for reservation of seats for women in legislatures."

What a weak answer says. That the 106th Amendment reserves one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, describes articles 330A and 332A, and concludes that women's representation will now increase.

What is wrong with it. It states as operative a provision that is not in force, and it omits article 334A, which is the only part of the amendment currently doing anything.

What a good answer does.

One. States what articles 330A and 332A provide, including that the reservation is horizontal within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe seats.

Two. Sets out article 334A in full, unpacking the three conditions, and says plainly that the amendment has not commenced.

Three. Gives the three facts: no census since 2011, delimitation frozen until after the first census taken after 2026, and the 131st Amendment Bill defeated on 17 April 2026.

Four. Draws the federalism connection: the reservation is tied to the delimitation question, which is contested between the States.

Five. Contrasts it with articles 243D and 243T, which are in force and have operated since 1993.

Six. Evaluates, giving both cases as above.

Why this scores. Every proposition is traceable to the text or to a dated event, and the answer engages with the question actually set rather than the announcement that was made in 2023.

Quick revision

• The 106th Amendment 2023 inserted articles 330A, 332A and 334A, and amended article 239AA for Delhi.
• One-third of seats, as nearly as may be, in the House of the People and every State Assembly, INCLUDING within the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. No sub-quota for the other backward classes.
• Article 334A: commencement waits for a census taken after the Amendment Act, publication of its figures, and then a delimitation undertaken for the purpose. Duration fifteen years from commencement, subject to Parliament.
• Nothing has commenced: the 2021 census was not taken, delimitation is frozen until after the first census taken after 2026, and the 131st Amendment Bill was defeated on 17 April 2026.
• The reservation is therefore tied to the most contested federal question in the country.
• Contrast articles 243D and 243T, in force since 1993.

Test yourself

1. What do articles 330A and 332A provide, and in what sense is the reservation horizontal?

2. Set out the three conditions in article 334A that must be satisfied before the reservation commences.

3. Give the three facts that explain why nothing has happened, with dates.

4. Why is the women's reservation tied to a federalism dispute, and could it have been drafted otherwise?

5. Contrast the 106th Amendment with articles 243D and 243T on four points.

6. Using this amendment, argue both that the constitutional measures for women are satisfactory and that they are not.