EC releases draft delimitation proposal for Assam, reserved seats increased

Subject : Polity

Section: Elections

Concept :

The Election Commission on Tuesday released its draft proposal for delimitation in Assam, increasing the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes from eight to nine and for Scheduled Tribes from 16 to 19.
As per Articles 170 and 82 of the Constitution, the number of Assembly seats in a state and the number of Lok Sabha seats from a state are not to be altered till the first census after 2026 is
As a result, the number of Assembly seats and Lok Sabha seats in Assam would remain 126 and 14 respectively.
The delimitation was carried out on the basis of the 2001 Census, the first such exercise in Assam since 1976.
Among the Lok Sabha seats, two seats were proposed to be reserved for STs and one for SCs.

Delimitation

Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent changes in population.
The Delimitation Commission is to work without any executive influence.
The Constitution mandates that the Commission’s orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.
When the orders of the Delimitation Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, they cannot effect any modification in the orders.

Composition:

The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
Retired Supreme Court judge
Chief Election Commissioner
Respective State Election Commissioners

What is the Process of Delimitation?

Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
The first delimitation exercise was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission) in 1950-51.
The 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.

Issues with Delimitation

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 2002-08, 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.
The 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha.
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.