How proposed women’s reservation Bill could affect delimitation process

Road to reservation.

Proposed changes

The three Bills are aimed at providing 33% women’s reservation in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies as early as 2029. These are the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to amend the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, to expedite women’s reservation, a Delimitation Bill to set up a Delimitation Commission based on the latest available population figures, and a Bill to extend women’s reservation to Union Territories with Legislative Assemblies.

The first Bill also amends Article 81 of the Constitution to lay down that Lok Sabha shall not exceed 815 members elected from states and 35 members elected from the UTs. Its statement of objects and reasons says that while the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, had laid down that women’s reservation would be implemented following delimitation based on the first Census after the Act was passed, this would delay the process.

So, the Bill now aims to operationalise women’s reservation following delimitation based on the latest Census exercise. This would mean the 2011 Census, if the Delimitation Commission is constituted quickly after the passage of the Delimitation Act.

The Constitutional Amendment Bill also amends Article 82 to do away with the necessity for delimitation after each Census.

‘One person, one vote, one value’

The new Delimitation Bill explicitly states that it would be the duty of the Commission to readjust the constituencies according to the latest published Census figures on the date the Delimitation Commission is constituted (meaning the 2011 Census). It also says that the Commission would have to readjust the seats with regard to several Articles of the Constitution, including Articles 81 and 82.

There is no mention that the readjustment must be on a pro-rata basis via a 50% increase in the seats of all states, but Article 81 essentially provides for the “one person, one vote, one value” principle. Article 81 (2) (a) says: “There shall be allotted to each State a number of seats in the House of the People in such manner that the ratio between that number and the population of the state is, so far as practicable, the same for all States.”

The only exception is for very small states with a population not exceeding 60 lakh, so that they still have adequate representation in the Lower House.

Given the clear provisions in Article 81, the only way for the proportion of seats allocated to states to remain unchanged is to continue with the 1971 Census data — something that government sources now suggest.

The 1971 freeze

The current freeze on delimitation is a result of two constitutional amendments, one in 1976 and the other in 2001. The first froze the definition of “last preceding census” in Articles 81 and 82 for allocating seats among states to mean the 1971 Census, for a period of 25 years. This was to ensure that states initiate family planning measures without worrying about electoral representation.

However, the present Bills mandate that the Delimitation Commission readjust seats as per the latest Census figures. A Schedule (additional section) attached to the Bills might mention a proportionate increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for every state, but it is unlikely to pacify a restive Opposition.

“In his speech in Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah explicitly mentioned the exact number of seats each state would have after a 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats.”