Delimitation Commission in Jammu and Kashmir

[GS Paper 2 – Indian Constitution and Parliament]

Context – The Delimitation Commission of Jammu and Kashmir signs the final order for the delimitation of the Union Territory.

Key Developments 

• The panel was tasked to redraw the boundaries of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. 
• The delimitation award will be made public detailing the number of constituencies and their size by bringing out a gazette notification once the report is submitted to the government. 
• The delimitation commission has asked the central government to reserve two seats for Kashmiri migrants as well as nominate representatives of people displaced from POJK and settled in the assembly of the union territory.

Need for Delimitation Commission

• The erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state had 111 seats 46 in Kashmir 37 in Jammu and four in Ladakh plus 24 seats reserved for Pakistan occupied Kashmir. 
• When Ladakh was declared as a union territory, Jammu and Kashmir had 107 seats including the 24 for POK. 
• In the new assembly, the panel has said, seats should continue to be set aside but some representatives of people who moved here from PoJK should be nominated to the house

About Delimitation Commission

• 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 or boundary commission of India is a commission established by the government of India under the provisions of the delimitation commission act. 
• The major task of the commission includes redrawing boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on a recent census. 
• The Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.

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 2008, 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 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.

Download as PDF