Delimitation Commission of India

Definition

• 'Delimitation' means fixing limits/boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country/province with a legislative body.
• A high-powered body called the Delimitation Commission (or Boundary Commission) is assigned this job.

Rationale of Delimitation

• Periodic delimitation and elections are pillars of Indian parliamentary democracy.
• Importance:
  • Ensures free and fair elections in a democratic state.
  • Secures fair elections by following legal provisions and accepted norms.
  • Legally mandated exercise in representative systems with single-member constituencies.
  • Addresses the complexity of providing a foundation for democratic public representation.
  • Periodic exercises are needed to reflect changing ground realities.
  • Aims for parity in the value of votes, though ideal parity is difficult to achieve.
  • Acknowledges that constituency populations often differ, affecting vote value.

Commissions Established So Far

• The Delimitation Commission of India is a statutory body established by the Central Government via an Act of Parliament.
• It demarcates boundaries of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies.
• Its orders have the force of law, cannot be challenged in court, and come into force on a date specified by the President.
• Orders are laid before the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, but modifications are not permitted.
• Four Commissions have been constituted so far.

Delimitation Commission	Established in	Established under the Act
First	1952	The Delimitation Commission Act, 1952
Second	1963	The Delimitation Commission Act, 1962
Third	1973	The Delimitation Act, 1972
Fourth	2002	The Delimitation Act, 2002

Constitutional Provisions

• Articles 81, 82, 170, 330, and 332 of the Constitution deal with delimitation.
• Amended by the 84th (2001) and 87th (2003) Constitutional Amendment Acts.
• Cumulative effect of amendments:
  • Total Lok Sabha seats allocated to states based on the 1971 census remain unaltered until the first census after 2026.
  • Total seats in State Legislative Assemblies based on the 1971 census also remain unaltered until the first census after 2026.
  • Reserved seats for SCs/STs in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are re-worked based on the 2001 census.
  • Each state is redelimited into territorial constituencies based on the 2001 census, frozen until the first census after 2026.
  • Constituencies are re-delimited so that the population of each parliamentary and assembly constituency in a state is, as far as practicable, the same throughout the state, based on the 2001 census.

Fourth Delimitation Commission (2002)

• Established under the Delimitation Act, 2002 to readjust Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in all states (except Jammu and Kashmir) based on the 2001 census.
• Three-member body:
  1. Chairperson: Serving/retired Supreme Court judge
  2. Ex-officio: Chief Election Commissioner or nominee
  3. Ex-officio: State Election Commissioner of concerned State/UT
• Additionally, had 10 associate members per state (5 Lok Sabha, 5 State Legislative Assembly).
• Associate members lacked voting rights.
• Justice Kuldip Singh (retired SC judge) was appointed as the Chairperson.

Implementation of the Recommendations

• Submitted recommendations in 2007.
• The President of India signed the notification for implementation in 2008, redefining Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies.
• Recommendations not applicable to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Jharkhand.
• The government deferred the delimitation exercise in these four North-Eastern states and nullified the final order for Jharkhand.
• The 2009 General Elections to the Lok Sabha were held for 499 out of 543 Parliamentary constituencies based on newly delimited constituencies (excluding Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Jharkhand and erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir).

Delimitation Commission (2020)

• In February 2020, the Government of India rescinded its 2008 notifications that deferred the delimitation exercise in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland.
• Reason: improved security situation.
• In March 2020, the Government of India set up a Delimitation Commission for the purpose of delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in these four north-eastern states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (UT of J&K).
• Members:
  • Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (retired Supreme Court judge) as Chairperson.
  • Sushil Chandra, Election Commissioner, as ex-officio member.
  • The State Election Commissioner of the concerned State or UT, as the other ex-officio member.
• Tasks:
  • Delimit constituencies in the four north-eastern states according to the Delimitation Act, 2002.
  • Delimit constituencies in the UT of J&K according to the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the Delimitation Act, 2002.
• In March 2021, the Government of India removed the four north-eastern states from the Commission's purview.
• The term of the Commission was extended by one year (i.e., till March 2022) to enable it to continue with its delimitation work in the UT of J&K. Again, in February 2022, the Commission was given another two months' extension (i.e., till May 2022).
• The Commission also associated in its work, five members of Lok Sabha elected from the UT of J&K. They were nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha. But, they had no voting rights.
• The Commission completed its task in May 2022. The report of the Commission is entitled as "Delimited Landscape of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir".

Delimitation in J&K

• Delimitation in J&K has differed from the rest of the country due to the region's special status, withdrawn by the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.
• Lok Sabha seat delimitation was governed by the Constitution of India. State Legislative Assembly seat delimitation was governed by the Constitution of J&K and the J&K Representation of People Act, 1957.
• Assembly seats in J&K were delimited in 1957, 1966, 1975, and 1995 (based on the 1981 census).
• No census in 1991, and no Delimitation Commission was set up after 2001.
• The State Assembly passed a law freezing fresh delimitation until figures for the first census after 2026 were published.
• The J&K Assembly had 111 seats (including 4 in Ladakh) with 24 reserved for Pakistan-occupied J&K.
• The J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 created the UT of J&K, and provided for a Legislative Assembly.
• The total number of seats in the Assembly to be filled by direct elections has been fixed as 114.
• A provision for nomination of 2 women members if the Lieutenant Governor believes women are not adequately represented.
• 24 seats in the Assembly shall remain vacant for the area of the UT of J&K under occupation of Pakistan.
• The present Delimitation Commission was entrusted with the work of delimiting the Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies in the UT of J&K on the basis of the 2011 census and in accordance with the provisions of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002.
• The 2011 census population had increased more than 100% over the 1981 census population of J&K.
• Since the last delimitation was based on 1981 census, the nature of constituencies had to a large extent become malapportioned.
• Having regard to the relevant provisions of the Constitution of India (Article 330 and Article 332), the provisions of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002, the number of seats to be reserved for the SCs and the STs in the Legislative Assembly of the UT of J&K has been worked out on the basis of 2011 census.
• It is worthwhile to mention here that the Constitution of the erstwhile State of J&K did not provide for reservation of seats for the STs in the Legislative Assembly.

Order of the Commission (May 2022)

• The Commission made the final order in respect of the delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in the UT of J&K.
• Provisions:
  1. J&K treated as a single entity for delimitation. All 5 Parliamentary constituencies now have an equal number of 18 Assembly Constituencies.
  2. Anantnag–Rajouri Parliamentary Constituency has been carved out by combining Anantnag area of the Kashmir region and Rajouri & Poonch area of the Jammu region.
  3. Out of the total 90 Assembly constituencies in the J&K, 43 are for the Jammu region and 47 are for the Kashmir region.
  4. Creation of 6 new Assembly constituencies for the Jammu region and 1 new Assembly constituency for the Kashmir region.
  5. Reservation of 9 Assembly constituencies for the STs. Out of these, 6 are in the Jammu region and 3 are in the Kashmir region.
  6. Reservation of 7 Assembly constituencies for the SCs.
  7. The Commission has also changed the names of some Assembly constituencies. One Assembly constituency is named as Shri Mata Vaishno Devi.

Recommendations of the Commission

• The Commission made the following recommendations to the Central Government:
  1. Kashmiri Migrants: Provision of at least two members (one of them must be a female) from the community of Kashmiri migrants in the J&K Assembly. Such members may be given power at par with the power of nominated members of the Assembly of UT of Puducherry.
  2. Displaced Persons from PoJ&K: The Central Government may consider giving the displaced persons from PoJ&K some representation in the J&K Assembly. This may be done by way of nomination of representatives of the displaced persons from PoJ&K.