On March 06, 2020, In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, the Central government has set up a Delimitation Commission , headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, for the delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh(AP), Manipur and Nagaland.
Key Points:
i.The Commission will also comprise of members,viz an Election Commissioner (presently Mr. Sushil Chandra) and the State Election Commissioners of the respective States and UT,who will be made ex-officio members of the commission. Ranjana Prakash has been appointed for a period of one year.
ii.The Commission is mandated to delimit the Lok Sabha and Assembly Constituencies in J&K under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act,2019 while the provisions of the Delimitation Act 2002 will delimit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. Delimitation was done based on the 2001 census.
The Section 60 of the J&K Reorganisation Act,2019 stipulates that the number of seats in its Legislative Assembly will be increased to 114, from the present 107. Of these, 24 seats have been reserved for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
iii.Such Delimitation Commissions have been formed 4 times in India – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.
Delimitation Commission:
It is appointed by the President of India (presently Ram Nath Kovind) and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
What is Delimitation?
It refers to the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent changes in population.
Why it is needed?
The primary aim of delimitation is to provide equal representation to similar segments of the population. It also aims at proper division of geographical areas so that one political party does not get an inappropriate advantage over others in elections.
It also aimed to follow the principle of One vote One value.
Issues with Delimitation:
The States that take less interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament.
About Ministry of Law and Justice:
Headquarters– New Delhi
Union Minister– Ravi Shankar Prasad
