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Editorials In-Depth, 16 March
Delimitation Commission of India
General Studies- II (Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies)
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Political leaders participating in the delimitation process in J&K as well as independent observers have raised fears of “islands” being formed.
The Delimitation Act, 2002 says that apart from population, the constituencies have to be geographically compact areas and contiguous. Observers say this principle is not being followed in the ongoing Delimitation exercise.
- For example, a village in one tehsil would be completely surrounded by villages in another Tehsil. Geographical connectedness is not being considered here. This gives rise to the voter islands.
- It is being said that the Commission “has carved out geographical islands and joined with the other Assembly segments without any proximity or connectivity”.
Delimitation panel report:
The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission (headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai) has submitted its interim report.
As per the report:
- Of the 90 Assembly seats, 28 new Assembly constituencies have been reconfigured or renamed.
- 19 Assembly segments have been deleted.
- All the five Lok Sabha seats will be redrawn.
- The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi constituency has been identified as the smallest of all with just 73,648 votes in the Jammu region.
Background:
The Government has constituted a Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai for the purpose of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Post 5 August 2019 and the split of the State into two Union Territories—J&K and Ladakh—, the complexion of the legislative Assembly changed.
- Four Ladakh seats were declared void, reducing the strength of the J&K assembly to 83 from 87.
- At the same time, the new Act provided for increasing the number of seats to 90.
- Section 60 of the Reorganisation Act deals with the exercise and provides among others reservation of the seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly having regard to the “relevant provisions of the Constitution”.
About the Delimitation Commission:
The Delimitation commission of India is established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act.
- It is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
- The Constitution mandates that its orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.
Composition:
- Retired Supreme Court judge
- Chief Election Commissioner
- Respective State Election Commissioners
Functions:
- To redraw the boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on a recent census.
- To identify seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, wherever their population is relatively large.
- The number of SC and ST seats in a state is changed in accordance with the census.
- The representation from each State is not changed during this exercise.
- The present delimitation of constituencies has been done on the basis of 2001 census under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002.
What is Delimitation?
Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in population.
Why is delimitation needed?
- To provide equal representation to equal segments of a population.
- Fair division of geographical areas so that one political party doesn’t have an advantage over others in an election.
- To follow the principle of ‘One Vote One Value’.
How is delimitation carried out?
- Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
- Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
- Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
How often has delimitation been done in the past?
The first delimitation exercise in 1950-51 was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission).
- Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
- Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
- There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses.
When is the next delimitation?
- According to the 84th Amendment, delimitation cannot happen until the first Census after 2026 is not published.
- That means, the exercise will only take place once the 2031 census data is published.
Concerns with Delimitation:
The constitution has also capped the number of Lok Shaba & Rajya Sabha seats to a maximum of 550 & 250 respectively and increasing populations are being represented by a single representative.
- States that take little interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament.
- The southern states that promoted family planning faced the possibility of having their seats reduced.
- In 2008, Delimitation was done based on the 2001 census, but the total number of seats in the Assemblies and Parliament decided as per the 1971 Census was not changed.
Source: The Hindu
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