Modi’s Nari Shakti Sammelan Sets Stage for Women’s Quota Bill
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha on Thursday (Image Sansad TV)
PM to gather women achievers at Vigyan Bhawan as government builds political momentum ahead of landmark special session
By AMIT KUMAR
New Delhi, April 12, 2026 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a national-level ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Sammelan’ at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on Monday — exactly 72 hours before Parliament convenes a special three-day session to amend the Women’s Reservation Act and make it operational from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
“The Sammelan is being organised to build momentum around the government’s commitment to women-led development — a core pillar of its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision,” said the Press Information Bureau in a media statement. It will bring together eminent personalities and women achievers from government, academia, science, sports, entrepreneurship, media, social work and culture.
The timing is deliberate and politically significant. In September 2023, Parliament passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, providing for reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies — but the law requires a delimitation exercise before it can come into force. The special three-day Parliament session from April 16 to 18 is being convened to pass an amendment that will increase the total number of Parliament seats to 816, with 273 — or 33.4% — reserved for women, effective from the 2029 general elections.
The Sammelan on April 13 serves as the symbolic and political curtain-raiser for that legislative moment. By assembling women leaders from across sectors — from Panchayats to Parliament, as the PIB statement puts it — the event is designed to frame what follows in Parliament not merely as legislation, but as a national commitment.
PM Modi has urged citizens to motivate all political parties to ensure the bill’s passage, calling any delay in implementing women’s reservation “deeply unfortunate” and describing the move as essential to India’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
“To describe this merely as a legislative exercise would be an understatement. It is a reflection of the aspirations of crores of women across India,” he said earlier this week.
The sequencing — Sammelan on April 13, special Parliament session from April 16 — reflects a government playbook that pairs symbolic optics with legislative action. Whether the opposition, which has questioned the bill’s timing and the delimitation methodology attached to it, will participate or abstain remains the crucial variable heading into next week.
What is not in question is the milestone itself: if the amendment passes, India will have taken the most consequential step toward gender parity in its legislative history since women first voted in 1952.
FAQ
Q: What is the Nari Shakti Vandan Sammelan on April 13?
A: A national gathering at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, where PM Modi will address women achievers from government, academia, science, sports, entrepreneurship, media and culture — one day before Parliament’s special session on women’s reservation.
Q: What is the special Parliament session from April 16 to 18 about?
A: It will take up an amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to increase Lok Sabha seats to 816, with 273 reserved for women — making 33% reservation operational from the 2029 general elections.
Q: When was the Women’s Reservation Act originally passed?
A: The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed by Parliament in September 2023, but requires a delimitation exercise to come into force — which the April 2026 amendment seeks to address.
Q: What is Viksit Bharat 2047?
A: India’s national vision to become a fully developed nation by 2047, the centenary of its independence — with women-led development as a stated central pillar.
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