The North and South should make a deal on population vs revenue over delimitation | Current Affairs | Vision IAS

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The North and South should make a deal on population vs revenue over delimitation

2 min read

Delimitation in India: Challenges and Concerns

Yogendra Yadav, a member of Swaraj India and national convenor of Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan, addresses the complexities of delimitation in India, focusing on removing biases and refining voters' lists. 

Impact of Delimitation

  • Delimitation, or redistricting, involves adjusting the number of seats to reflect population changes, ensuring equality in representation.
  • In India, delimitation has three components: 
    • Reallocation: Adapting to population changes within states and urban areas.
    • Redrawing Boundaries: Defining constituency boundaries, such as in Haryana.
    • Reservation Decisions: Allocating reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
  • The constitutional principle is "one person, one vote," ensuring parity in representation.
  • Delimitation is meant to occur after every census, ideally every 10 years.

History of Delimitation

  • Delimitation occurred in 1952-1956, and after the 1961 and 1971 censuses.
  • The 42nd Amendment froze delimitation in 1976 for 25 years due to uneven population growth.
  • In 2001, the freeze was extended but allowed intra-state seat reallocation and boundary redrawing.
  • Partial unfreeze allowed creation of new constituencies like Gurugram and modification of reservation allocations.

Current Options and Challenges

  • Options for delimitation moving forward: 
    • Complete freeze as in 1976, though not advocated presently.
    • Partial freeze as in 2001, maintaining state seat allocations while adjusting within states.
    • Complete unfreeze returning to original constitutional provisions, with potential drastic impacts.
  • Yadav suggests a permanent freeze on current ratios and adopting a partial freeze approach.

Fault Lines in Indian Society

  • Cultural, economic, and political fault lines exist and could be exacerbated by reallocation: 
    • Linguistic differences between Hindi and non-Hindi regions.
    • Economic disparity, particularly between the South and West versus other regions.
    • Electoral dominance of the BJP in certain areas.
  • Yadav calls for a compromise to strengthen federalism: 
    • North Indians to refrain from demanding more representation based on population.
    • South and West Indians to curb demands for greater federal revenue shares.

Additional Concerns Over Delimitation

  • The delimitation process is not constitutionally defined, requiring new laws for each occurrence.
  • Concern over non-partisan execution amidst institutional strain, particularly regarding gerrymandering.
  • Recent instances in Jammu and Kashmir, and Assam showed signs of biased delimitation.
  • Issues with overly large constituencies and the need for a balance without federal imbalance.
  • Reservation allocation lacks formalized rules, sometimes perceived as unfair.
  • Disparity in electoral systems and voters' lists between central and local elections.
  • Emphasizes the need for a unified national voters' list before considering "one nation, one election."
  • Tags :
  • 42nd Amendment
  • Delimitation
  • federal imbalance
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