Consider the following statements regarding the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, scheduled to be taken up in the Special Session of Parliament on 16-18 April 2026: 1. The Bill is intended to operationalise the One Hundred and Sixth Constitutional Amendment that mandates 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. 2. The 106th Amendment was passed in 2023 but its enforcement was made contingent on a fresh delimitation exercise. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Explanation

Both statements are correct. The 106th Amendment, known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, inserted the constitutional framework for reserving nearly one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. Its own mechanism, however, did not make the reservation immediately operative: Article 334A linked it to delimitation after the relevant census. The 131st Amendment Bill, 2026, taken up in the Special Session of 16-18 April 2026, addresses that legal bottleneck. The Bill's statement of objects says the next census and consequential delimitation would take considerable time, so the proposed amendment seeks to put women's reservation into operation through a delimitation exercise based on the latest published census figures.

Why the other options are wrong

• (B) It accepts the operationalisation purpose of the 131st Amendment Bill but wrongly rejects the fact that the 106th Amendment's operation was tied to a fresh delimitation exercise.
• (C) It recognises the delimitation condition attached to the 106th Amendment but wrongly denies that the 131st Amendment Bill was meant to operationalise the women's reservation framework.
• (D) It is untenable because the 131st Amendment Bill operationalises women's reservation, and Article 334A made the 106th Amendment's enforcement dependent on delimitation after the relevant census.

Concept

This tests constitutional amendment mechanics, especially how reservation provisions can be made dependent on census and delimitation. RAS repeatedly asks such questions because they connect Parliament, electoral representation and current constitutional developments.

Source

• Sansad: The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026
• https://www.legislative.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/08/415c4ac11019eeed37d4e87e4e8a6831.pdf

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