Nomination quota to increase from 5 to 7
LS seats of UTs to go up from 19 to 35
Quota to last 15 years, Comm to have 5 MPs, 5 MLAs from JK
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 14: A bill to operationalise 33 percent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and States/UT Assemblies by increasing strength of the Lower House and Assemblies is being introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Parliament on April 16. The Government also plans to bring a Constitution amendment bill, a bill on Delimitation Law and an enabling Legislation for the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and NCT Delhi Assemblies to fast track implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act of 2023.
With adoption of the bill by the Parliament, strength of the Lok Sabha will go up to 850 from the present 543. As per the bill, a copy of which is in possession of the Excelsior, to redraw the constituencies, the Government proposes to take into account the 2011 Census data.Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
Shah will also introduce a separate bill titled the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes amendments providing that the number of directly elected seats in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be less than 114 including 24 seats reserved for Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) which means that the number of directly elected seats cannot be less than the existing 90.
Significantly, no restrictions have been placed on the proposed Delimitation Commission unlike the post-2019 delimitation, when the number of seats was already fixed in the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act at 114 including 90 for existing Assembly and 24 reserved for PoJK.
More important are the amendments proposed in the legislation on nomination of MLAs in the J&K Assembly whose number is proposed to be increased from present five to seven.
It proposed provision for nomination of three women only after the readjustment of constituencies takes effect, three Kashmiri migrants and one PoJK refugee.
Presently, there is a provision for nomination of five MLAs in the Assembly including two women, two Kashmiri migrants, one of them also a woman, and one refugee from PoJK. However, even after one and a half years of the Legislative Assembly, the nominations haven’t been made. The nominations have been challenged by the Congress in the court of law though the Competent Authority hasn’t been restrained from nominations.
The legislations empower a Delimitation Commission, to be constituted by the Union Government, to determine the number and boundaries of Assembly segments in J&K, which will also decide Jammu & Kashmir’s share in Lok Sabha seats among the Union Territories, which have been allocated a maximum of 35 seats.
According to the proposed amendments to the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall consist of such number of members, to be chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the Union Territory, as may be determined by the Delimitation Commission.
This provision will become applicable only after the Delimitation Commission’s report comes into effect.
According to the proposed amendments, the readjustment shall not affect representation in the Legislative Assembly until the dissolution of the existing Assembly. It further provides that until such readjustment takes effect, any election to the Legislative Assembly may be held on the basis of the territorial constituencies existing before such readjustment.
The amendments also specify that Jammu & Kashmir will have 33 percent women’s reservation in its Assembly, but only after constituencies are redrawn through delimitation. The reservation for women will last for 15 years from the date the 106th Constitutional Amendment (2023) began, unless Parliament decides to extend it further. The reserved seats for women will not be fixed permanently; they will be rotated among different constituencies in J&K (and other States/UTs) over time.
The proposed laws provide that Delimitation Commission will decide about Jammu & Kashmir’s share in Lok Sabha among the Union Territories and fix their boundaries.
However, the number of seats to all Union Territories cannot be more than 35, the proposed bills state. Currently, Union Territories have 19 Lok Sabha seats.
The proposed Delimitation Commission will associate 10 members with it form J&K including 5 Lok Sabha MPs and 5 MLAs to be nominated by Assembly Speaker within one month of the constitution of the Commission.
The bill states that “The House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall consist of not more than 815 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the states; and not more than 35 members to represent the Union territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide.”
“The next census and the consequential delimitation exercise thereafter will take considerable time and thus, delay the effective and dedicated participation of women in our democratic polity. Hence, the objective of the proposed bill is to operationalise one-third reservation for women, including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies of the States, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territories through delimitation exercise to be undertaken on the basis of the population figures of the latest published census,” says the statement of objects and reasons of the draft Constitution amendment bill.
The bill states that “The House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall consist of not more than 815 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the states; and not more than 35 members to represent the Union territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide.” This will take total elected seats in Lok Sabha to 850.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
