BOOM

Trending Searches

    SUPPORT
    BOOM

    Trending News

      • Fact Check 
        • Fast Check
        • Politics
        • Business
        • Entertainment
        • Social
        • Sports
        • World
      • Law
      • Explainers
      • News 
        • All News
      • Decode 
        • Impact
        • Scamcheck
        • Life
        • Voices
      • Media Buddhi 
        • Digital Buddhi
        • Senior Citizens
        • Videos
      • Web Stories
      • BOOM Research
      • BOOM Labs
      • Deepfake Tracker
      • Videos 
        • Facts Neeti
      • Home-icon
        Home
      • About Us-icon
        About Us
      • Authors-icon
        Authors
      • Team-icon
        Team
      • Careers-icon
        Careers
      • Internship-icon
        Internship
      • Contact Us-icon
        Contact Us
      • Methodology-icon
        Methodology
      • Correction Policy-icon
        Correction Policy
      • Non-Partnership Policy-icon
        Non-Partnership Policy
      • Cookie Policy-icon
        Cookie Policy
      • Grievance Redressal-icon
        Grievance Redressal
      • Republishing Guidelines-icon
        Republishing Guidelines
      • Fact Check-icon
        Fact Check
        Fast Check
        Politics
        Business
        Entertainment
        Social
        Sports
        World
      • Law-icon
        Law
      • Explainers-icon
        Explainers
      • News-icon
        News
        All News
      • Decode-icon
        Decode
        Impact
        Scamcheck
        Life
        Voices
      • Media Buddhi-icon
        Media Buddhi
        Digital Buddhi
        Senior Citizens
        Videos
      • Web Stories-icon
        Web Stories
      • BOOM Research-icon
        BOOM Research
      • BOOM Labs-icon
        BOOM Labs
      • Deepfake Tracker-icon
        Deepfake Tracker
      • Videos-icon
        Videos
        Facts Neeti
      Trending Tags
      TRENDING
      • #Operation Sindoor
      • #Pahalgam Terror Attack
      • #Narendra Modi
      • #Rahul Gandhi
      • #Waqf Amendment Bill
      • #Arvind Kejriwal
      • #Deepfake
      • #Artificial Intelligence
      • Home
      • Explainers
      • What Is Delimitation And Why Is It...
      Explainers

      What Is Delimitation And Why Is It Needed

      The delimitation exercise ensures that each elected representative roughly represents the same number of people ensuring fairness in representation.

      By - Nidhi Jacob |
      Published -  22 Sept 2023 6:50 PM IST
    • Boomlive
      Listen to this Article
      delimitation

      The Women Reservation Bill, 2023 or the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' was cleared in the Lok Sabha on September 20 and was unanimously passed in the Rajya Sabha on September 21, 2023. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was tabled in the Lok Sabha after it was introduced by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

      The Bill seeks to reserve 33% of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. The reservation will not apply to the Rajya Sabha. However, the reservation will only be effective after the census and delimitation exercise is conducted. While the Opposition leaders welcomed the move to bring in the legislation, some raised concerns stating that delays in carrying out census and delimitation will prevent the implementation of laws like women's reservation in parliament and state assemblies.

      The Indian National Congress MP Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said that the "Bill gets the headlines today with a very vague promise of its implementation date."

      Aam Aadmi Party's MP Sanjay Singh called the Bill as 'fool the woman bill'. He stated that there was no clarification on when the Bill will be passed, and that all of this was just another political gimmick by Prime Minister Modi, the Times of India reported.

      Further, Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the Bill will "open the door for the women but will ask them to queue up to wait till 2029, to enter & fill the seats they have rightly deserved since we became a republic!"

      What does the Bill say about its commencement, census and delimitation?

      The implementation of the Bill is not immediate and will neither happen before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Bill states that the provisions of the law shall come into effect only after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken after the relevant figures of first census is carried out. Delimitation and census go hand in hand. The 2021 census was postponed for the first time since its inception in 1881.

      When asked about the reasons for the continuing delay in conducting the 2021 Census, the union government on July 26, 2023, told the Rajya Sabha that "The intent of the Government for conducting Census 2021 was notified in Gazette of India on 28th March, 2019. The Government decided to conduct Census 2021 under the Census Act, 1948 in two phases, viz., (i) House listing & Housing Census during April-September, 2020 and (ii) Population Enumeration during 9th to 28th February, 2021. Due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the Census 2021 and the related field activities have been postponed."

      What is delimitation?

      Delimitation is the process through which a territory is divided into constituencies wherein a Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission fixes limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country on basis of population for electoral purposes. We have Parliamentary constituencies, assembly constituencies, municipalities and panchayats. The boundaries of each is divided through the process of delimitation, explained Maansi Verma, founder of Maadhyam, a civic engagement initiative. "As and when a census happens and there are indications of increase in population, changes in density due to movement of people etc., there arises a need to readjust boundaries so that as far as possible, each constituency has roughly the same population," she explained.

      Why is it needed?

      Delimitation is necessary because it ensures that each elected representative roughly represents the same number of people ensuring fairness in representation. This means that each state should receive seats in proportion to its population and allocate those seats to constituencies of roughly equal size. In our Constitution, seats have to be reserved for members from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes communities as well. That is also decided on the basis of proportion of SC, ST population in a particular area. Drawing of boundaries of reserved constituencies is also done through delimitation.

      The total number of Lok Sabha seats is expected to increase from 543 to 753 (according to projected population figures). According to the 2019 research paper titled, India’s Emerging Crisis of Representation, for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar would gain as many as 21 seats in total in the delimitation process whereas Tamil Nadu and Kerala will lose as many as 16. This is mainly because of the major differences in population growth of the northern and southern states of the country. The paper says, "States with slow population growth, such as the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, argue that they should not be punished for curbing population growth more effectively than states with ballooning populations, such as the northern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh."

      Article 82 of the Constitution says that next readjustment of boundaries can only happen after 2026 and the total number of seats in Lok Sabha from different states is fixed till then. Since delimitation is dependent on census, it can only happen once census takes place after 2026.

      Since the Independence of India, the census has been carried out seven times (1951-2011). However, the delimitation exercise has been conducted on four 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, as per the Election Commission of India.

      "Census is a decadal exercise and the last census was due in 2021, which couldn't be carried out due to COVID-19. It isn't clear when the next census will be carried out now. It is possible that the government undertakes a census in 2027 itself and on the basis of that, delimitation is carried out. If the government continues the decadal pattern of census, then it will be undertaken in 2031 and delimitation can happen only after that," Verma concluded.

      Tags

      DelimitationWomen's Reservation BillLok SabhaLok Sabha Elections
      Read Full Article
      Next Story
      Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
      Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker. Please reload after ad blocker is disabled.
      X

      Subscribe to BOOM Newsletters

      👉 No spam, no paywall — but verified insights.

      Please enter a Email Address
      Subscribe for free!

      Stay Ahead of Misinformation!

      Please enter a Email Address
      Subscribe Now🛡️ 100% Privacy Protected | No Spam, Just Facts
      By subscribing, you agree with the Terms & conditions and Privacy Policy connected to the offer

      Thank you for subscribing!

      You’re now part of the BOOM community.

      Or, Subscribe to receive latest news via email
      Subscribed Successfully...
      Copy HTMLHTML is copied!
      There's no data to copy!