Associated members nominated for Delimitation Commission

The Lok Sabha Speaker has nominated 15 MPs from Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh as “associate members” of the Delimitation Commission to assist the panel in redrawing parliamentary and assembly constituencies of the northeastern states and the union territory.

About Delimitation Commission:

• The Delimitation Commission is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act to redraw the boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies on a recent census.
• Under Article 82 of the Constitution of India, 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.
• The Central Government constitute the Delimitation Commission which consists of three members as follows:—
  • one member, who shall be a person who is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, to be appointed by the Central Government who shall be the Chairperson of the Commission
  • the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, ex officio:
    • Provided that after the nomination of an Election Commissioner as a member under this clause, no further nomination under this clause shall be made except to fill the casual vacancy of such member under section 6
  • the State Election Commissioner of concerned State, ex officio.
• In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted four times—
  • in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952
  • in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962
  • in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972
  • in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002

Background:

• The government had on March 6 constituted the Delimitation Commission, to be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, to redraw Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.

The commission will delimit the constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, and of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland in accordance with the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002.

Delimitation in Jammu & Kashmir:

• Delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir will be carried out per the provisions of J&K Reorganisation Act that split the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir with an assembly and Ladakh without an assembly. 
• Jammu and Kashmir at present has no Legislative Assembly. It is a Union Territory with a provision of a legislature.
• The delimitation in J&K will be based on the Census of 2011 due to an amendment in the J&K Reorganisation Act.
• The latest delimitation in other parts of India has been done as per the census of 2001. The future delimitation will be based on the census of 2031.  
• The number of assembly seats in J&K after delimitation will increase from 107 to 114 that includes 24 seats for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
• The J&K Assembly was dissolved in November 2018 after being in suspended animation for six months.
• The last delimitation of J&K was done in 1995 when the former state was under the President’s Rule.