The North-South Chasm

A mix of federal equity and efficient use of fiscal resources is the solution to delimitation row

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AMIL NADU CHIEF Minister MK Stalin has urged the Centre to retain the existing number of Lok Sabha (LS) seats and constituency boundaries for the next 30 years. A furore over the impending redrawing of the boundaries of the LS constituencies on the basis of the 16th census was to be expected. The delimitation exercise has remained frozen since 1971; the 84th Constitution amendment in 2002 set down status quo of constituency limits until "the first census taken after the year 2026".

While decennial census, last conducted in 2011, is delayed, reports suggest that it will start in 2025, with data and the National Population Register update expected by 2026. Or it could even be staggered to meet the "after-2026" condition. Another delimitation would result in a significant increase in LS seats from the extant 543, fixed over five decades ago on the basis of the 1971 census. The population has presumably grown by roughly 2.6 times since then, with the rate of increase among states being very uneven.