Consider the following statements regarding ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’:

1. Provisions will come into effect from the 18^th Lok Sabha.

2. This will be in force for 15 years after becoming an Act.

3. There are provisions for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes Women within the quota reserved for the Scheduled Castes.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

The correct option is 2 and 3 only.

Let's analyze each statement step-by-step to understand why this option is correct:

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (128th Constitutional Amendment Bill / 106th Constitutional Amendment Act) provides for a 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Delhi Legislative Assembly. However, according to the Act, the reservation provisions will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is conducted, which in turn will occur after the relevant figures of the first census conducted after the commencement of the Act are published. Therefore, it did not come into effect for the 18th Lok Sabha elections held in 2024.

Statement 2 is correct: The Act specifies that the reservation of seats for women will remain in force for a period of 15 years from the date of its commencement. It can be extended further by a law passed by the Parliament.

Statement 3 is correct: The Act includes sub-reservation provisions. It mandates that within the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) under the existing constitutional provisions, one-third of those seats shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively.