Delimitation will penalise states successful in family planning, says Congress
Congress MP and general secretary in-charge for communications Jairam Ramesh pointed the distribution of seats across states in the Lok Sabha is presently based on the 1971 Census
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Congress MP and general secretary in-charge for communications Jairam Ramesh (Express Archives)CLEARING ITS stand on the proposed delimitation, the Congress Tuesday said that states which showed early success in family planning and reducing total fertility rates stand to be “penalised”.
Congress MP and general secretary in-charge for communications Jairam Ramesh said states would “lose seats simply because of their early success in family planning and reducing total fertility rates, which have been national objectives”.
“They will be penalised for it,” he said and added that the distribution of seats across states in the Lok Sabha is presently based on the 1971 Census.
“Article 82 that was amended with effect from Feb 2002 provides for a fresh distribution based on the population data from the first Census after 2026. When such a decennial Census will take place is open to question specially since the 2021 Census has yet to be conducted,” he posted on X.
“An analysis done in March 2019 by two scholars Milan Vaishnav and Jamie Hintson using Census 2001 and 2011 data reveals what happens to the distribution of seats if the estimated population of 2026 is used… The states that lose seats are Tamil Nadu (8), Kerala (8), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (8), Odisha (3), West Bengal (4), Karnataka (2), Himachal Pradesh (1), Punjab (1), and Uttarakhand (1),” said Ramesh, adding that Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra “don’t lose or gain any seat”.
“The states that gain are Uttar Pradesh (11), Bihar (10), Rajasthan (6), Madhya Pradesh (4), Jharkhand (1), Haryana (1), Gujarat (1), Delhi (1), and Chhattisgarh (1),” he said.
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