Representatives of women's rights organisations, feminist groups, secular political parties and civil society organisations gathered in Hyderabad on Saturday to demand the immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, 2023, without linking it to the Census or the delimitation process. The public consultation, organised by women's rights and feminist organisations of Telangana in solidarity with the National Coalition for Women's Reservation (NCWR), drew around 100 participants at Maqdoom Bhavan in Himayatnagar.
The participants adopted a joint resolution urging the Union government to implement the constitutional provision providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, including reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women, by removing the conditions that tie its implementation to the completion of the next Census and subsequent delimitation exercise. Speakers also opposed any proposal to expand the strength of Parliament through delimitation, arguing that women's political representation should not be linked to parliamentary seat expansion or measures they described as detrimental to India's federal structure.
The keynote addresses were delivered by senior academics and social activists Prof. Shantha Sinha and Prof. Rama Melkote, who traced the decades-long campaign for women's reservation in legislatures. They argued that greater representation of women, particularly those from socially and economically marginalised communities, would strengthen democratic governance and public policy. They maintained that women's reservation should be implemented within the existing strength of Parliament and State Assemblies without waiting for delimitation.
Several political leaders from different parties participated in the consultation. Among them were Sharadha Nerella and Tripurana Venkataratnam, both former Chairpersons of the Telangana State Women's Commission representing the Indian National Congress, Sumithra Anand Tanoba of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Kalvakuntla Kavitha of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Lakshmi Raghulapally of the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), and Shanta of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Representatives from Left parties and affiliated women's organisations included Mallu Lakshmi and Asha of the CPI(M) and AIDWA, Pasya Padma and Krishna Kumari of the CPI and NFIW, Anasuya, V. Sandhya and Jhansi of CPI(ML)-New Democracy and POW, Jyoti Bannuru of CMS, and Vimalakka of Arunodaya.
The speakers expressed concern over what they described as delays in operationalising the Women's Reservation Act enacted through the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023. They noted that although the legislation received parliamentary approval in 2023, a Gazette notification bringing the Act into force was issued only on April 16, 2026. They alleged that the Union government had delayed implementation despite describing the legislation as the "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam" and criticised attempts to associate women's reservation with parliamentary seat expansion.
Representatives of independent women's organisations and social movements, including Prof. Sujatha Surepally of WT-JAC, Suneetha and Deepthi of ALIFA-NAPM, Ashalatha and Rukmini of MAKAAM, Puli Kalpana of DBF, Sr. Lissy Joseph of the Telangana Domestic Workers Union, Manjula of GUTS Domestic Workers Union, Rachana and Vyjayanthi representing transgender women's movements, Indira of Nirashray Shramika Sangham, Rubina representing Muslim women's organisations, Joopaka Subhadra, Nymphea Reddy of YWCA, and student leader Swathi, also addressed the gathering. They observed that while the 2023 legislation marked an important milestone after more than three decades of advocacy, it did not provide separate provisions for Other Backward Classes (OBC) women and remained subject to conditions that had effectively postponed its implementation.
Participants argued that the linkage of women's reservation with the Census and delimitation had placed the constitutional guarantee on hold indefinitely. They called for amendments to remove these conditions as well as the provision limiting the reservation to a 15-year period. The consultation also emphasised that any future delimitation exercise or restructuring of parliamentary representation should be undertaken only through a transparent, consultative and democratic process involving all states and stakeholders.
The meeting further stressed that identification of constituencies to be reserved for women should involve state governments, local communities and women's organisations. Participants advocated safeguards to ensure adequate representation of Dalit, Adivasi, Nomadic and Denotified Tribes, OBC, minority, transgender, disabled and other marginalised women and gender groups. They referred to the framework established under the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments governing Panchayati Raj institutions as a possible model for ensuring inclusive political representation at higher legislative levels.
The gathering also welcomed the opposition of several secular political parties and democratic groups to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill debated during the Special Session of Parliament in April 2026. Participants stated that the proposed legislation sought to link implementation of women's reservation with a significant expansion of Lok Sabha seats and argued that such a move could adversely affect the federal balance among states.
As part of its future campaign, the consultation resolved to submit a memorandum to the Telangana Chief Minister and the Minister for Women and Child Welfare seeking the passage of a resolution in the forthcoming monsoon session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly in support of immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Act after removing the Census and delimitation conditions. Campaign organisers also announced plans to engage Members of Parliament, Members of the Legislative Assembly, ministers and leaders of secular political parties across Telangana to build support for the demand.
The organisations said they would continue public outreach through district-level campaigns, online initiatives and participation in nationwide programmes coordinated by the National Coalition for Women's Reservation. They also announced plans to work with the Telangana Voter Rights Forum to monitor electoral processes affecting women's and marginalised communities' participation, including concerns related to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The consultation concluded with an appeal to elected representatives, civil society organisations and the public to support the campaign for the timely implementation of the Women's Reservation Act while safeguarding constitutional principles of democracy, federalism and inclusive political representation.
The meeting was co-facilitated by feminist activists Sajaya K and Meera Sanghamitra of the Women and Transgender Organisations Joint Action Committee (WT-JAC) and the All India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA-NAPM). The statement was issued by Women's Rights and Feminist Organisations of Telangana in solidarity with the National Coalition for Women's Reservation.
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