New Delhi: The Union Law Ministry has notified April 16, 2026, as the date on which the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — widely known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — comes into effect.
The notification was issued on Thursday even as the Lok Sabha continued deliberations on three Bills, including a Constitutional amendment aimed at enabling the implementation of women’s reservation by the 2029 general elections.
Government sources described the notification as a “technical” step required to facilitate further amendments to provisions introduced by the 2023 Act.
Among the Bills under discussion is the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes changes to Articles 330A, 332A, and 334A — all inserted by the 106th Amendment.
The 2023 law had originally stipulated that women’s reservation would come into effect only after the first delimitation exercise based on data from the next Census conducted after the Act’s commencement.
However, citing delays expected in conducting Census 2027 and the subsequent delimitation process, the government has proposed a change. The new amendment Bill seeks to allow delimitation to be carried out using population data from the latest available census — Census 2011 — in order to expedite women’s representation in legislatures.
