About Delimitation in India

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• Background
• What is Delimitation?
• Why is it needed?
• What are the Constitutional Provisions regarding delimitation in India?
• What is Delimitation Commission?

 

Why in news?

• The Election Commission began public hearings in Guwahati on the draft delimitation proposal for Assam.
• The full Bench of the commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, will meet political parties, civil society organisations and other sections of society.
  • The public hearings are part of the consultative exercise by the commission during the process of delimitation.

 

Background:

• Delimitation process started in Assam
  • In December 2022, the Election Commission began the delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam by using the Census data of 2001 for the readjustment seats.
• Publication of draft delimitation process
  • The draft delimitation proposal for Assam was published on June 20, 2023 and objections were invited till July 11.
  • It had proposed to retain the number of Assembly seats in Assam at 126 and the Lok Sabha constituencies at 14.
  • It has also proposed that the assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes be increased from eight to nine and Scheduled Tribe seats from 16 to 19.
  • The draft of delimitation further proposes to reserve two parliamentary seats for STs, and one parliamentary seat for SCs.
• Matter reaches SC 
  • Recently, 10 opposition leaders from 9 parties of Assam approached the Supreme Court challenging the ECI’s draft delimitation order.
  • The parties have questioned the methodology of carrying out the ongoing delimitation exercise and using of different average assembly sizes for different districts.

 

What is Delimitation?

• According to the Election Commission, the word ‘delimitation’ is defined as “the act or process of fixing limits/boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body”.
• In the Indian context, the exercise of redrawing the boundaries of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly Constituencies in a region is known as delimitation.
• In this process, the number of seats allocated to a particular state/UT in Lok Sabha or in the Legislative Assembly may vary.
  • For example – Delhi, a union territory with legislative assembly, has 7 Lok Sabha constituencies while in the Legislative Assembly it has 70 constituencies.

 

Why is it needed?

• Delimitation helps in redrawing the boundaries (based on the data of the last Census) in such a way that the population of all the constituencies, as far as practicable, remain equal throughout the State/UT.
• It ensures a fair division of geographical areas so that all political parties or candidates contesting elections have a level playing field in terms of a number of voters.

 

What are the Constitutional Provisions regarding delimitation in India?

• Article 82 and Article 170 of the Constitution empowers the Parliament to readjust the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of States respectively, after every census.
• Accordingly, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Commission Act and an independent high-powered panel known as the Delimitation Commission is constituted to carry out the exercise of delimitation.
• The Parliament has enacted the Delimitation Commission Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 for this purpose. 
  • There was no Delimitation Commission Act after the 1981 and 1991 census.
• The present delimitation of constituencies has been done on the basis of 2001 census data under the provisions of Delimitation Commission Act, 2002.
• The next Delimitation Commission will be set up after 2026.
• Further, Article 330 and Article 332 of the Constitution provide for re-fixing the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of the states, on the basis of the 2001 census.

 

What is Delimitation Commission?

• The Delimitation Commission is a high-powered committee entrusted with the task of drawing and redrawing of boundaries of different constituencies for state assembly and Lok Sabha election.
• It is appointed by the President and works in collaboration with the Election Commission.
• The Commission consists of – 
  • A retired or working Supreme Court Judge (chairperson)
  • Election Commissioner
  • Concerned State Election Commissioners
• The Commission’s orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.
• The Commission’s orders are laid before the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies concerned, but they cannot effect any modifications in the orders.

 

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Q)  Who appoints Delimitation Commission in India?

In India, the Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India. The Delimitation Commission is responsible for the delimitation or re-drawing of electoral boundaries for both parliamentary and state assembly constituencies. It determines the boundaries of these constituencies based on the principles of population and territorial distribution.

 

Q) Is Delimitation Commission a constitutional body?

Delimitation Commission is a statutory body established by the Parliament under Delimitation Commission Act.

 

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Source: Election Commission begins public hearings in Guwahati on draft delimitation proposal for Assam