Revision summary
• Women form a cross-cutting demographic, not a traditional minority or caste-based backward class.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
The statement reflects the socio-legal classification of women in India, who despite systemic marginalization, transcend traditional minority and caste-based backward categories. Consequently, affirmative action for women has required a unique legislative architecture, evolving from voluntary party quotas and local bodies to constitutional mandate in Parliament.
Body
Grassroots Foundations and Panchayati Raj
- 73rd and 74th Amendments: Mandated not less than one-third reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies, creating a vast pool of grassroots leaders.
- Social Capital: Transformed rural power dynamics by bringing over a million women into formal local governance structures.
The Legislative Journey to Parliament
- Long Stalemate: The Women's Reservation Bill faced decades of political deadlock in Parliament since its first introduction as the 81st Constitutional Amendment in 1996.
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam: The 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2023, finally secured bipartisan consensus to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD 249["73rd and 74th Amendments"] 250["Grassroots Women Leaders"] 251["Decades of Parliamentary Deadlock"] 252["Nari Shakti Vandan Act 2023"] 253["One-Third Lok Sabha Reservation"] 249 --> 250 250 --> 251 251 --> 252 252 --> 253
Conclusion
The evolution of women's reservation underscores a shift from welfare paradigms to rights-based political citizenship. By integrating women into the highest law-making body, Indian democracy moves closer to substantive equality, fulfilling the promise of Article 14 and Article 325.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Examine whether the constitutional office of the Lok Sabha Speaker has become vulnerable to partisan politics under the current anti-defection regime. What institutional changes are required to ensure the neutrality of the Lok Sabha Speaker in managing a polarised House?
Next question on this syllabus topic (2026 · Q3). View answer →
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Why are women not classified as a minority or backward class in India?
Minorities in India are constitutionally recognized on religious or linguistic grounds (Articles 29-30), while backward classes are identified based on social and educational backwardness linked traditionally to caste (Articles 15(4) and 16(4)). Women cut across all religious, linguistic, and caste groups, forming roughly half the population rather than a distinct segment.
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What is the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023?
It is the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act that provides for one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, operational after the next delimitation exercise.
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2024 · Q5 · GS II · 10 marks
Analyse the role of local bodies in providing good governance at local level and bring out the pros and cons of merging the rural local bodies with the urban local bodies. -
2023 · Q3 · GS II · 10 marks
"The states in India seem reluctant to empower urban local bodies both functionally as well as financially." Comment. -
2022 · Q5 · GS II · 10 marks
Discuss the role of the National Commission for Backward Classes in the wake of its transformation from a statutory body to a constitutional body.
More from this topic
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2026 · GS II · 10 marks · Solution
Examine whether the constitutional office of the Lok Sabha Speaker has become vulnerable to partisan politics under the current anti-defection regime. What institutional changes are required to ensure the neutrality of the Lok Sabha Speaker in managing a polarised House?
Parliament and State Legislatures
• The Lok Sabha Speaker faces a conflict of interest because they remain in a political party while deciding disqualification cases under the Tenth Schedule. • Key vulnerabilities include dual political allegiance, weaponization of the anti-defection whip for government stability, and tactical delays in rulings. • The Supreme Court (*Keisham Meghachandra Singh*, 2020) criticized these delays and suggested moving to an independent tribunal. • Reform idea 1: Adopt the British convention where the Speaker cuts all party ties and runs unopposed in elections. • Reform idea 2: Shift defection adjudication entirely away from the Speaker to an outside body like the Election Commission. • Reform idea 3: Enforce strict statutory time limits to prevent politicians from stalling defection cases during crises.
Q12 · UPSC Mains 2025 · GS II · 15 marks · Solution
Indian Constitution has conferred the amending power on the ordinary legislative institutions with a few procedural hurdles. In view of this statement, examine the procedural and substantive limitations on the amending power of the Parliament to change the Constitution.
Parliament and State Legislatures
Article 368 uses Parliament’s Houses, not a standing constituent assembly, with special majority and no joint sitting. Federal provisions need ratification by at least half the States. Ordinary Acts cannot amend the Constitution. Kesavananda, Minerva Mills, Indira Gandhi and I.R. Coelho set substantive basic-structure limits, including judicial review and rights-DPSPs balance. NJAC 2015 shows the doctrine applying to institutional design, not only to rights texts.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2024 · GS II · 10 marks · Solution
"The growth of cabinet system has practkally resulted in the marginalisation of the parliamentary supremacy." Elucidate.
Parliament and State Legislatures
Articles 74–75 keep the Cabinet responsible to the Lok Sabha; that is the legal core of parliamentary government. Whips and the Tenth Schedule, ordinances and money-bill classification have moved real initiation to the Cabinet. This is practical marginalisation of the floor, not a legal repeal of Parliament. PAC, standing committees, Rajya Sabha and the floor test still bite. Keisham Meghachandra pressed Speakers to decide disqualification on a clock. A narrower anti-defection law would restore some of the supremacy the quote says is lost. The examiner’s misspelling does not change the demand: show practice squeezing text, not text dying.