Delimitation Commission holds meeting

On May 28, 2020, the Delimitation Commission held a meeting to review the progress of directions that were provided during its meet in April, 2020.

Highlights

The details of State Election Commissioner were received from the states of Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. The Census data has also been received from the Registrar General.

What is Delimitation?

Delimitation is the act of redrawing the boundaries of state assembly and Lok Sabha seats with respect to the changes in population. The main objective of delimitation is to provide equal representatives in the legislative assembly and parliament to equal segments of population.

The Delimitation is conducted by the Delimitation Commission.

Delimitation Commission

The Delimitation Act is brought about by the Parliament after every census under Article 82. The commission is made of Supreme Court Judge, Chief Election Commissioner and also state election commissioners of respective states.

The Delimitation exercise has been done four times. They were implemented in 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002. The Last delimitation exercise was begun in 2002 and ended in 2008 based on 2001 census.

Why no delimitation in recent past?

The number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state is based on the ratio between that number and population of the state. However, under this provision, the states that took less interest in population control ended up having greater representations.

In 1976, during emergency period, the delimitation was suspended till 2001. This was later extended to 2026. Thus, recently no delimitation was carried in recent past.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2020