Delimitation exercise: Govt defends criticism from South Indian states

The three Bills will be introduced in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Arjun Meghwal on Thursday, and the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are expected to intervene; Shah is expected to intervene on Friday.

New Delhi: The government has defended the criticism from South Indian states that they are set to lose seats in the upcoming delimitation exercise, saying that, proportionally, the southern states will benefit.

The government’s contention is that the population in South India has not increased as much as in north India since the 1971 Census, and yet the southern states will be given a 50 per cent increase in seats.

“Proportionally, they are set to benefit,” a senior government official said. “They are getting more seats with respect to their population – as per the same ratio, there are more voters competing for one representative in North India.”

The three Bills will be introduced in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday, and the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are expected to intervene; Shah is expected to intervene on Friday.

Only one discussion will be held on the three bills, and in the Lok Sabha, 18-20 hours will be set aside for it. If the bills are passed in the Lok Sabha, they will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Saturday, sources said.

The three bills are brought in to expedite the implementation of women’s reservation, which was due to begin after the 2026 Census. The three bills will delink the women’s reservation from the ongoing Census process and base it on the 2011 Census as well as detail the delimitation process as per the 2011 Census.

In 1971, India's population was 60 crore, which increased to 121 crore as per the 2011 Census. As per the delimitation process, 50 per cent seats will increase in the Lok Sabha as well as in the state assemblies. The number of seats in the Lok Sabha will increase to 815 or 816, the senior official said.

“The details will be decided by the Delimitation Commission, keeping in mind various factors, including the SC/ST population, and taking into account the rounding of fractions in the number of seats,” the official added. “One in three seats for women.”

Currently, 84 of the Lok Sabha seats are earmarked for SCs and 47 for ST communities. As per the 2011 Census, SCs comprised 16.6% and STs accounted for 8.6 per cent of the population. The projections are that seats will increase to 136 and 70 for SCs and STs, respectively.

On the question of whether there is any cap on how long these numbers will be sustained, the senior leader said that the population will fall from now on. “There might be no need for delimitation in the future as the population numbers are dipping.”

To illustrate the argument, the senior government face took the example of Haryana and Kerala. “In 1971, Haryana’s population was 1 crore, and in 2011, it was 2.5 crore. In Kerala, the population was 2.5 crore in 1971; today it is 3.3 crore. Kerala is set to gain 10 more Lok Sabha seats, bringing its total to 30. But in Haryana, the number of Lok Sabha seats will increase to 15. Proportionally, Kerala has gained,” the official said.

Quote: “In fact, the Southern States are fortunate that despite controlling the population growth and despite less people, in terms of proportion and ratio, they still gain because the numbers have risen proportionately. No state is losing, every region and every state is fairly distributed and given the provision of an increase in the numbers of seats.”

- Union Minister Kiren Rijiju