In a petition submitted to Members of Parliament, women's organisations said that women's reservation should not be linked with the upcoming delimitation. "We women's groups and individuals deplore the hurried move to call this joint session of Parliament when several state elections are ongoing and the model code of conduct is in force. We also deplore the failure of the Government to give adequate time for women's groups to place their recommendations, though it is through their efforts that the Bill saw the light of the day. But we believe that this session can still achieve some positive results if its focus is limited to necessary amendments in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam," the petition notes.

"The most important of these amendments is to remove all references linking women's reservation to Census findings and delimitation. At a flat 33% of all seats, women's reservation is not linked to population counts or legislatures' expansion, it can be applied to the current or any strength of the legislatures. The breakup of these 33% state-wise can be according to the States' seat shares and revised following every legislature expansion," it continues.

Signatories include general secretary of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights Beena Pallical, writer Nandita Gandhi, former member of the Group of Interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir Radha Kumar, former chairperson of the National Commission for Child Rights Shantha Sinha, feminist activists Arundhati Dhuru, Kumudini Pati, Padma Singh and Shabnam Hashmi, public health physician Meera Shiva, academics Janaki Nair, Nandini Sundar and Ruchika Sharma, and organisations including the All-India Feminist Alliance, the Forum Against Oppression of Women, the All India Progressive Women's Alliance, Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, the YWCA, Shaheen Women Resource and Welfare Association, Muslim Women's Forum, Stree Jagruti Samiti, Puthiya Purachi Kazhagam, Jagrook Mahila Sanstha, PARCHAM, Vasavya Mahila Mandali, North-East Network, Equal Representation Movement and Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Sanyukt Union.

As the Parliament's special session unfolds, they have also demanded that the women's reservation bill and the delimitation bill be kept separate.

Some other suggestions that were given in the press conference, to restore the focus on women are as follows:

• The delimitation of seats should take place based on the 2026-27 Census instead of the 2011 Census.
• Insertion of new clauses in the 2023 act:
  • To specify that the 33% reserved seats will be allocated to states in proportion to each state's seat share.
  • To provide state funding for the election campaigns of vulnerable and marginalised women such as those belonging to OBC, LGBTQ, tribal communities, etc.
• Along with Lok Sabha, reservation of 33% seats in Rajya Sabha for Women.

Nisha Sidhu, national general secretary of the NFIW and Bhavna Sharma of Anhad highlighted that the Bill has faced many hurdles since its introduction in 1996 and its failure to be implemented for the past three decades represents the patriarchal mindset of the Indian society. But, its usage as a bargaining chip to smuggle in delimitation, which they said goes against the unity of India, has made it humiliating for women, the activists noted.

Advocate Harsha Azad analysed past trends in delimitations and concluded that previous delimitation exercises (before 2014) led to a deviation of not more than 3% of power among the citizens or a region. However the delimitation that took place in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in citizens from Kashmir have 33% less power than those from Jammu.

Read the full petition and list of signatories below.

Women's WR Petition Final by The Wire