Women to Surpass 33% Quota, Take Over 50% of Leadership in a Decade: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday expressed confidence that women will eventually move beyond the 33 per cent reservation provided for them in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, predicting that they could account for more than half of leadership positions in the country's and states' services and institutions within the next decade.

Addressing a two-day All-India Capacity Building Workshop on “Gender-Responsive Governance”, organised by the National Commission for Women (NCW) in Faridabad, Birla said women had consistently been change-makers, from India's freedom movement and Constitution-making to nation-building.

“There is already 33 per cent reservation, but in the coming time, women will lead beyond that percentage,” Birla said, urging women to move from being beneficiaries of government schemes to becoming policy-makers and lawmakers.

His remarks come against the backdrop of the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which provides one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, including within SC and ST reserved seats. Its implementation is linked to a census followed by delimitation.

Women currently remain significantly under-represented in Parliament. 74 women were elected to the 543-member Lok Sabha in 2024, accounting for 13.6 per cent, compared with 78 women in 2019. Yet women constituted 48.62 per cent of registered electors, with 47.63 crore women voters. Female turnout stood at 65.78 per cent, marginally above men's 65.55 per cent. Women also contested in greater numbers - 800 candidates in 2024, compared with 726 in 2019 - but represented only 9.6 per cent of all candidates.

Birla said women's leadership was expanding across government, private companies, social service and politics. Referring to the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service, he said women's representation in leadership had risen from around 15-20 per cent to over 40 per cent in various fields, predicting 50 per cent-plus leadership within 10 years.

The reservation debate also intensified in 2026 after a proposed constitutional amendment seeking to advance delimitation and expand the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats failed to secure the required majority, with 298 votes in favour and 230 against.

NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said women legislators bring perspectives across education, health, economy, technology, environment and governance. She highlighted “She is a Changemaker,” “Catalyst for Change” and “Campus Calling,” which has reached more than 850 campuses in 10 months.

The workshop was attended by Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy, Chhattisgarh minister Laxmi Rajwade, Kerala ministers Bindhu Krishna and K A Thulasi, Haryana minister Rajesh Nagar, West Bengal minister of state Kalita Majhi and NCW Member Secretary Sudeep Jain.