Speaker: 33% reservation will open new avenues for women’s leadership

Women’s reservation in legislatures: what happened?

Parliament has provided for one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to be reserved for women. The Speaker used an NCW workshop to talk about what women legislators can do with that space.

• Lok Sabha Speaker, at an NCW workshop on gender-responsive governance (Faridabad), called 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Assemblies a historic need [PIB].

What did the Speaker say?

• The focus must shift from giving women support to enabling them to shape policies, programmes and laws.
• Women legislators in the Lok Sabha, Assemblies, Panchayats and Municipalities can bring women’s concerns to the right fora.
• He said the day is not far when women will make up over 50 per cent of public services.
• India cannot become developed without the economic and social empowerment of women.

What does the Constitution provide?

• Article 330A: as nearly as may be, one-third of seats filled by direct election to the House of the People shall be reserved for women.
• Article 332A: similar reservation for women in State Legislative Assemblies.
• Article 334A: these provisions take effect after a delimitation exercise based on the first census after the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, and last fifteen years.

What can Prelims ask on women’s reservation in legislatures?

• Women’s reservation: Articles 330A, 332A and 334A (106th Amendment, 2023).
• NCW workshop on “Gender-Responsive Governance”: Faridabad, September 2026.