Delimitation, women’s reservation, balancing North-South divide: Key takeaways from proposed Bills

Does it pave the way for reservation for women?

The three Bills pave the way for reserving 33% of seats for women in the legislature, a long-pending promise of many parties. The earliest this could be implemented is from the 2029 Lok Sabha election onwards.

Although Parliament passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, in September 2023 to reserve one-third of the seats for women, its implementation was linked to delimitation after the first Census taken after the Act gets published.

Now, the government has said the delayed 2021 Census, which is currently ongoing, will take too long to complete, delaying the implementation of women’s reservation. This is why the Bills have been brought to conduct the delimitation on the basis of the “latest Census”, which means the 2011 Census.

What does it say on proportional representation to states?

Delimitation has been a political hot potato for the past 50 years, as population growth in southern states was lower compared to those in the North.

Political parties from the South have argued that if delimitation is carried out on the basis of population alone, they will lose out on the number of seats as compared with some northern states where population growth has been higher. They have argued that they should not be punished for implementing population control policies successfully.

This is why Parliament has passed two Constitutional amendments in 1976 and in 2001 to postpone the readjustment of seats on the basis of the Census. The current freeze is till the first Census after 2026. Now, the government is proposing to amend this, removing any mention of any Census with regard to the timing of delimitation.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has publicly said that Southern states would not be disadvantaged by the upcoming delimitation. However, the Bills are silent on how it will be achieved.

The Delimitation Bill, 2026, provides for the setting up of a Delimitation Commission, which will decide on the boundaries on the basis of the “latest Census”. It remains to be seen if and when the Commission is formed, what formula it adopts to maintain the regional status quo. 

What does it say on future delimitations?

So far, the Constitution has mandated a delimitation exercise after each decadal Census, as per Article 82, which is titled “Readjustment after each Census”. The government is now proposing to de-link delimitation from the decadal Census altogether.

The Constitution Amendment Bill says that delimitation will be done by the Delimitation Commission when Parliament passes a law, meaning that the ruling parties would be able to decide when and how to conduct a delimitation exercise. Delimitation would no longer be a Constitutionally-mandated exercise to be held every 10 years.

What is the value of each vote?

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah both saying southern states will not lose out in delimitation, it remains to be seen how that will be possible. If seats are allotted to states on the basis of the 2011 Census, then southern states will see their representation reduced.

If the seats are increased proportionately across states, say by 50% in each state, then the size and population of constituencies in states would vary. Article 81 of the Constitution says the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha “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 amendment proposes changing the definition of population from the “last preceding census” to “population as ascertained at such census, as Parliament may by law determine”. This gives Parliament a wider option when it comes to allotment of seats.