What does delimitation mean?

Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. Delimitation in India also includes determining the seats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in these houses.

Delimitation in India has evolved over the years. What began as a fairly innocuous, bureaucratic exercise in a fledgling democracy has now metamorphosed into a tool for success in a highly sophisticated, technologically advanced electoral scenario.

What is the importance of delimitation?

Timely delimitation is essential to enable a functional democracy. India has the largest average number of voters per parliamentary constituency. Already individual parliamentary and assembly constituencies cover such large populations that adequately responding and attending to all their developmental requirements presents a serious challenge to representatives.

Thus, it is imperative that constituencies are rationalised to have optimal population to representative ratio.

Must read: Role of media in elections

What is Delimitation Commission of India?

The job of delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission.

The Delimitation Commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act, tasked with redrawing the boundaries of legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on the last census.

The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court. These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.

How many times Delimitation Commissions have been constituted in India so far?

In India, Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – 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.

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

The next delimitation can not be held before 2026.

What are the constitutional provisions which deal with delimitation process?

Article 82 and 170 of the Constitution provide that the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative assemblies as well as its division into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted after each Census.

This ‘delimitation process’ is performed by the ‘Delimitation Commission’ that is set up under an act of Parliament. Such an exercise was carried out after the 1951, 1961 and 1971 Census.

Delimitation did not happen after the census of 1981 and 1991. Though it took place after the 2001 census, the number of seats were not increased.

Why the union government had suspended delimitation in 1976 until after the 2001 census?

The union government had suspended delimitation in 1976 until after the 2001 census so that states’ family planning programs would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha.

‘Democracy’ means ‘rule or government by the people’. It follows that the government is elected by a majority with the broad principle of ‘one citizen-one vote-one value’.

The number of seats in the Lok Sabha based on the 1951, 1961 and 1971 Census was fixed at 494, 522 and 543, when the population was 36.1, 43.9 and 54.8 crore respectively. This broadly translated to an average population of 7.3, 8.4 and 10.1 lakh per seat respectively.

However, it has been frozen as per the 1971 Census in order to encourage population control measures so that States with higher population growth do not end up having higher number of seats.

This was done through the 42nd Amendment Act till the year 2000 and was extended by the 84th Amendment Act till 2026. Hence, the population based on which the number of seats is allocated refers to the population as per the 1971 Census.

This number will be re-adjusted based on the first Census after 2026. The boundaries of territorial constituencies were readjusted (without changing the number of seats) and seats for SC and ST were determined as per the 2001 Census and will again be carried out after 2026.

However, this suspension 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.

What are the criticisms with respect to Delimitation exercise in India?

Delimitation is not subject to any form of judicial review, legal recourse or parliamentary/assembly scrutiny. This would imply the government is the only agency that has any power over this exercise. The only time the process can be deliberated upon is before the Delimitation Act is passed. After that, it cannot be questioned, even by parliament.

There is thus an urgent need to initiate a parliamentary debate about buttressing the Delimitation Commission’s autonomy to discharge its mandate without fear or favour, and to follow up, if need be, with a constitutional amendment.

Delimitation is as vital for the democratic system as elections, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that delimitation reflects the country’s political philosophy, futuristic agenda and civic commitment.

For more information: External link: https://www.eci.gov.in/delimitation

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUES . How many Delimitation Commissions have been constituted by the Government of India till December 2023? UPSC 2024

(a) One

(b) Two

(c) Three

(d) Four

Show Answer