DELIMITATION COMMISSION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)

Context: The delimitation of constituencies for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies is to be carried out on the basis of the first Census after 2026.

Delimitation Commission:

• About: It is the fixing of the boundaries of a country's territorial constituencies to represent changes in population. The redrawing of these boundaries is based on the recent census.
• Constituted 4-times in India: In 1952, 1963, 1972, and 2002.
• Nodal Agency: Ministry of Law and Justice.
• Related Constitutional Provisions:

oArticles 82: Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.

oArticle 170: States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per the Delimitation Act after.

oArticle 330: Provides for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Parliament.

oArticle 332: Provides for reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.

• Structure of the Commission: It consists of retired Supreme Court judges, Chief Election Commissioner, and Respective State Election Commissioners.
• Appointment: It is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the ECI.
• Functions:

oDetermine the number and boundaries of constituencies in a way that the population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same.

oIdentify seats reserved for SCs and STs wherever their population is relatively large