Govt plans to delink women's quota from delimitation exercise

NEW DELHI: With the Centre seeking the support of Congress for possible amendments to the women's reservation law, it called on the Modi govt to chair an all-party meeting by PM Narendra Modi to discuss the subject.

Govt sources said they have already taken the initiative by reaching out to different opposition parties, including Congress. "It is govt's prerogative to decide the manner of its agenda," a senior functionary said on the demand for the meeting regarding the law that provides women 33% reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.


The outreach comes amid growing indication that the govt is planning to amend the Women's Reservation Act to ensure early implementation by possibly delinking it from the delimitation exercise. This would follow the decennial Census, which is currently at an early stage of its implementation.

Delimitation is not going to be a quick exercise. There could be resistance from southern states that fear allocation of Lok Sabha seats among states based on their respective populations will see their representation in the lower House shrinking.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju in response to the latter's letter seeking a discussion on the "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam".

He told Rijiju that he had already conveyed to him Congress's view that the govt should convene an all-party meeting to discuss the roadmap for the bill's implementation. He also expressed hope that such a meeting would be called at the earliest.
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