The constitution was amended to freeze the delimitation till 2026.
This had led to a situation and many states having a representation in the parliament that is disproportionate to their population.
What is delimitation?
Delimitation literally means the act of fixing the boundaries of constituencies.
Under Article 82 of the Constitution, Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census which establishes a delimitation commission.
The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies to ensure an equitable population distribution.
Delimitation commissions have been set up four times in the past under ‘Delimitation Commission Acts’ of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
What are the problems that need to be addressed?
The government had suspended delimitation in 1976 until after the 2001 census.
This is done for the reason that the states' family planning programs would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha.
Later, delimitation based on the 2001 census was done in 2008.
However, the total number of seats in the Assemblies and Parliament decided as per the 1971 Census was not changed.
The constitution has also capped the number of Lok Shaba & Rajya Sabha seats to a maximum of 550 & 250 respectively.
As a result increasing populations are being represented by a single representative.
What will be the consequence?
If the constitution was to be amended to increase the number of seats in the parliament, then there is a need to work out the modalities to ensure more time deliberations & debate.
Disruptions will be a bigger challenge in a larger house & needs to be dealt with.
States whose representation might get diluted will be an aggrieved lot.
There is also strong element of sub-nationalism prevalent in many states.
So the move could have huge political rampifications & needs to be treaded causiously.
