The National Coalition for Women’s Reservation (NCWR) and Naveddu Nilladiddare, Karnataka, held a public consultation where concerns were expressed over the weaponisation and delayed implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023.

“While the struggle for 33% representation in Parliament and State Assemblies has been fought for nearly three decades, the current form of the Act serves as an empty promise rather than immediate empowerment. By explicitly linking the implementation of women’s reservation to the completion of a future Census and the contentious process of delimitation, the Union government has effectively put women’s political rights on an indefinite hold,” said a statement issued after the consultation.

The coalition members pointed out that the government attempted to rush a gazette notification linking the 2023 Act to a slew of centralising legislation, including the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, and sought to do so through decoupling it from the post-2026 Census and expanding the total number of seats in the Lok Sabha.

Demand for consultation

With the monsoon session approaching, the collective has launched a State-wide public consultation and a massive signature campaign. A delegation will meet the Chief Minister and other government representatives to demand a clear resolution in the upcoming session to pass the Act without any conditions.

“We are calling upon all MPs and MLAs from Karnataka to step up, break the silence, and demand an informed, rigorous debate to amend the Act,” the members said in the statement.

The demand will be made to ensure a participatory and inclusive process for identifying the 33% women’s seats.

Involve States

“The identification of reserved seats must not be a centralised exercise. It must involve States, communities, and women’s organisations, while ensuring meaningful representation of the most marginalised women – including Dalit, Adivasi, OBC, minority women, trans women, and other marginalised genders,” said the statement.

“Models for determining women’s representation already exist within the decentralised framework established by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of the Panchayati Raj Act. Taking this as a foundation, efforts must be made to expand and reform this framework to ensure it extends to and encompasses religious minorities, gender and sexual minority communities, and all other marginalised groups,” it further pointed out.