Population not the sole factor in J&K limitation says officials

What is the news?

Members of opposition in J&K have objected to the Delimitation commission’s proposal for delimitation of J&K constituency. 

The J&K Delimitation Commission had recently proposed to increase six seats for the Jammu division and only one for the Kashmir division.

What is the provision against which objections have been raised?

Objections are being raised regarding use of a provision that has been a part of various Delimitation commission acts since 1952 onwards. 

This provision says that factors other than population like physical features, boundaries of administrative units, public convenience can be taken into account for delimiting constituencies. 

Why is the opposition criticising the proposal?

The opposition has argued that the increase in seats would tilt the balance of political power towards Jammu and away from the Kashmir Valley.

Has the provision been used in the past? 

There are cases where it has been used in the past too.

– Uttarakhand had all hill districts with 20% less population than the districts in the plains in the 2008 delimitation.

– Lakshadweep, which has one parliamentary constituency despite having a much smaller population.

Source: This post is based on the article “Population not the sole factor in J&K limitation says officials” published in The Hindu on 24^th Dec 2021.