India, March 24 -- The plan to amend the women's reservation bill - delinking it from the ongoing Census and the delimitation exercise that would have followed - is welcome, irrespective of the motivations. Timing may well explain the haste: Work on the first phase of the Census starts next month. Delimitation can only happen after the entire exercise is complete. Under the terms of the existing law, which lists the Census and delimitation as pre-requisites, implementing the quota ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha election would have been difficult, if not impossible.

The widely reported (but, as yet, unconfirmed) plan is to pass an amendment increasing the size of the Lok Sabha and legislatures by 50% and use a lottery to identify the seats t...