What Is Delimitation -? When Was It Last Conducted In Our Country -?

New Delhi, April 17, AIMA Media Update News : Delimitation is the process of redefining the boundaries of parliamentary and state legislative assembly constituencies, taking into account changes in population. By adjusting constituencies based on demographic shifts, this process ensures equal political representation. It also determines the number of seats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

This system was established to maintain equal representation by balancing population growth with parliamentary strength. Following every census, delimitation must be undertaken to review parliamentary seats and constituency boundaries in accordance with the latest demographic statistics. As per Articles 82 and 170 of the Constitution, the number of seats and constituency boundaries are required to be revised after every census.

★ When was Delimitation previously conducted in our country?

In our country, delimitation was last conducted in 2002, based on the 2001 census data. However, due to a "freeze" on seat allocation, the actual number of seats was not increased at that time. Prior to this, delimitation exercises were carried out in 1952, 1963, and 1973 (implemented in 1975). Although the delimitation process for 2021 was originally scheduled to be undertaken, it has been repeatedly postponed because the census could not be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To encourage population control and to prevent states with high growth rates from gaining an advantage, Lok Sabha seats were frozen based on the 1971 census. While the 42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) deferred delimitation for 25 years, the 84th Constitutional Amendment extended this freeze until 2021. The current allocation of Lok Sabha (543) and Rajya Sabha (250) seats is based on the 1971 census.


--- M Venkata T Reddy, News Editor and Investigative Journalist.