Polity

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 failed to pass in the Lok Sabha because it did not receive the special majority required under Article 368 of the Constitution. The bill sought to enable fresh delimitation, increase Lok Sabha strength to 850 seats and operationalise one-third women’s reservation. This article explains the constitutional amendment procedure, special majority requirement, technical provisions of the bill, delimitation framework and all basic constitutional concepts behind why such a bill can fail in Parliament.

Women's representation in India's Lok Sabha and state assemblies has rarely crossed half of the 33% mark, with the current share in Lok Sabha at around 14.4% and even lower in most Vidhan Sabhas. Despite the passage of the Women's Reservation Act in 2023 providing one-third quota, the reservation is not yet operational because it is linked to the delimitation exercise after the next Census. This article explains the constitutional framework for women's representation, current data, the 2023 Act provisions, the technical role of delimitation, global comparison and all basic concepts from the UPSC point of view.

The government will introduce a 'schedule' in Parliament that clearly lists the exact new number of Lok Sabha seats for every state while keeping each state's current percentage share in the total strength unchanged. This move uses the 2011 Census for delimitation, increases overall Lok Sabha seats by about 50 per cent to around 850, and protects South India's representation. The article explains what the schedule means, how delimitation works, the pro-rata formula for seats, impact on North-South balance, women's quota rollout and all basic technical concepts behind the three constitutional amendment bills.

The government has circulated three Constitutional Amendment Bills to enable fresh delimitation based on the 2011 Census, raise Lok Sabha strength from 543 to 850 seats, and operationalise one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. These bills aim to implement the long-pending women's quota early while ending mandatory delimitation after every Census. This article explains the key provisions of the bills, the constitutional process of amendment, what delimitation means, how the 2011 Census will be used, the impact on North-South balance.

With just one day left for the voter list to be finalised for the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections (scheduled for April 23, 2026), the appellate tribunals set up to hear appeals of “deleted” voters held their first and only hearing so far. Following a Supreme Court order, the tribunal quickly restored the name of Motab Shaikh, the Congress candidate from Farakka in Murshidabad district, who had been removed from the voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Most other tribunals are yet to start functioning fully, raising concerns about lakhs of voters still waiting for a final decision before the nomination deadline ends on April 6.

On March 27, 2026, the government introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to amend 79 central acts administered by 23 ministries and proposes to decriminalise 717 minor procedural offences while removing or changing 67 more provisions. This is the second edition of the Jan Vishwas initiative after the 2023 Act. Congress members raised strong objections during introduction, but the government rejected them, saying there is no precedent for sending such bills to a parliamentary committee at this stage.

The Supreme Court, on March 11, 2026, approved the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for 32-year-old Harish Rana, who has remained in a persistent vegetative state for over 13 years following a severe head injury. This decision represents the first real-world use of India's passive euthanasia guidelines, highlighting the need for clear rules on end-of-life care to allow individuals to pass away naturally when medical treatment offers no hope of recovery.

The Supreme Court on March 11, 2026, dismissed the Centre's appeals against judgments from three High Courts—Delhi, Madras, and Kerala—ruling that creamy layer status for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations cannot be based only on parental income. This decision came in cases involving UPSC civil services candidates whose parents work in public sector undertakings (PSUs) or private firms, emphasizing that social status and job equivalence must also be considered to avoid unfair treatment among similar OBC groups.

On March 11, 2026, the Supreme Court directed the Centre, states, Union Territories, universities, and public institutions receiving government funds to immediately disassociate three experts—Professor Michel Danino (chairperson of the NCERT social science curriculum committee), Suparna Diwakar, and Alok Prasanna Kumar—from any role in preparing school curriculum or finalising textbooks using public funds. This came after a suo motu case over a withdrawn Class 8 Social Science textbook chapter discussing "corruption in the judiciary," which the court called an attempt to demean the institution and harmful to impressionable students. The court also ordered formation of an expert committee to review legal studies content and barred publication of any rewritten chapter without domain expert approval.

A committee set up by the Ministry of Education has come up with key ideas to change how high school education works in India. These ideas focus on cutting down the time students spend in coaching classes to just 2-3 hours a day, making school lessons more like the tests for JEE and NEET, and giving more importance to board exam scores for getting into colleges. This comes as a response to growing worries about too many coaching centres, the stress they cause on students, and how they make education unfair for those who cannot afford extra classes.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has announced that starting next year, all proceedings in both Houses of Parliament, along with related official paperwork, will be translated into India's 22 scheduled languages using Artificial Intelligence. This step aims to make parliamentary work more accessible to people across the country, marking the first time such full translations will be available to the public. The announcement was made during a press conference ahead of a major international speakers' meeting, highlighting efforts to use technology for better democracy.

The Supreme Court of India has issued a notice to the Central government and the Election Commission on a public interest litigation challenging a key provision in the 2023 law that grants lifelong immunity to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) from civil or criminal proceedings for actions taken during their official duties. This move comes amid growing concerns about the potential for unchecked power in the electoral body, especially as it could affect the fairness of elections, and the court has agreed to examine the law's validity without staying its operation for now.