The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

is a commission established by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the various

assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

and

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

constituencies based on a recent

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

. The representation from each

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is not changed during this exercise. However, the number of SC and ST seats in a state are changed in accordance with the census. The present delimitation of constituencies has been done on the basis of 2001 census under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002. The Commission is a powerful and independent body whose orders cannot be challenged in any

court of law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

. The orders are laid before the Lok Sabha and the respective State Legislative Assemblies. However, modifications are not permitted.

History

Delimitation commissions have been set up four times in the past — 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 — under Delimitation Commission Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002. The union government had suspended delimitation in 1976 until after the 2001 census so that states'

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

programs would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha. This had led to wide discrepancies in the size of constituencies, with the largest having over three million electors, and the smallest less than 50,000.

Delimitation Commissions

1952

The Delimitation Commission of 1952 was created due to the ''Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1951''. Justice N Chandrasekhara Aiyar, a retired justice of the Supreme Court, was its chairman in 1953.

1963

''Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1961''

1973

The delimitaiton commission of 1973 was chaired by Justice J L Kapur, a retired justice of the Supreme Court. The commission recommended the increase of the seats in the Lok Sabha from 522 to 542 (later increased to 543 with the addition of one more seat for the new state of

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

). It also recommended increase the total number of assembly seats across all states and Union Territories in the country from 3771 to 3997 (including 32 for Sikkim's legislative assembly).

2002

The most recent delimitation commission was set up on 12 July 2002 after the 2001 census with Justice Kuldip Singh, a retired Judge of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

as its Chairperson. The Commission has submitted its recommendations. In December 2007, the

on a petition issued notice to the central government asking reasons for non implementation. On 4 January 2008, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) decided to implement the order from the Delimitation Commission. The recommendations of the Commission was approved by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

on 19 February. This means that all future

elections in India India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the central government and the states. The President of India is the ceremonial head of state of the country and supreme commander-in-chief for a ...

for states covered by the commission will be held under the newly formed constituencies. The present delimitation of parliamentary constituencies has been done on the basis of 2001 census figures under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002. The assembly election in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, conducted in three phases in May 2008, was the first to use the new boundaries as drawn by the 2002 delimitation commission. The tenure of the Delimitation Commission lasted until 31 May 2008. The delimitation orders issued by the Commission were given effect from 19 February 2008 for most states and union territories and 20 March 2008 for Tripura and Meghalaya, by a presidential order. The orders regarding Jharkhand were nullified till 2026 by inserting section 10B into the Delimitation Act, 2002. The delimitation of four north-eastern states was deferred due to security risks, by four separate presidential orders, all issued on 8 February 2008, for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur. The order regarding Assam was rescinded on 28 February 2020. Subsequently, the Government of India has reconstituted the Delimitation Commission for these four states as well as the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on 6 March 2020, under the chairpersonship of former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. In March 2021, the four north-eastern states were removed from the purview of the reconstituted Commission.

Next Delimitation Commission

The present delimitation of parliamentary constituencies within states, has been done on the basis of the 2001 census, under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002. However, the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

was specifically amended ( 84th amendment) in 2002, not to have interstate delimitation of constituencies till 2026. Thus, the present constituencies carved out on the basis of the 2001 census shall continue to be in operation till 2026 and later it can be done on the basis of population 2021.

Apportionment of Parliamentary and Assembly seats

Up until 1976, after every Indian Census the seats of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

and State legislative assemblies of India were re-distributed respectively throughout the country so as to have equal population representation from every seat. The apportionment was done thrice as per 1951, 1961 and 1971 population census. However, during The Emergency, through Forty-second Amendment the government froze the total Parliamentary and Assembly seats in each state till 2001 Census. This was done, mainly, due to wide discrepancies in family planning among the states. Thus, it gives time to states with higher fertility rates to implement family planning to bring the fertility rates down. Even though the boundaries of constituencies were altered in 2001 to equate population among the parliamentary and assembly seats; the number of

seats that each state has and those of legislative assemblies has remained unaltered since 1971 census and may only be changed after 2026 as the constitution was again amended ( 84th amendment to Indian Constitution) in 2002 to continue the freeze on the total number of seats in each state till 2026. This was mainly done as states which had implemented family planning widely like

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

would stand to lose many parliamentary seats representation and states with poor family planning programs and higher

fertility rates The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

would adversely gain many of the seats transferred from better-performing states.

References

External links

Election Commission of India - FAQs - Delimitation of ConstituenciesKarnataka assembly polls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delimitation Commission Of India Indian commissions and inquiries Constituencies in India

2002 in India