What is in news : In all party meet on Jammu Kashmir, the topic on DELIMITATION was discussed.

What Is Delimitation: Delimitation is the redrawing of boundaries of an assembly or Lok Sabha constituency to reflect changes to the population of a region

What constitution says and what has been done:

• Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
• The first delimitation exercise was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission) in 1950-51.
• The Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
• Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002

Delimitation Commission

• The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
• Composition:
  • Retired Supreme Court judge
  • Chief Election Commissioner
  • Respective State Election Commissioners
• Functions:
  • To determine the number and boundaries of constituencies to make population of all constituencies nearly equal.
  • To identify seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, wherever their population is relatively large.
  • In case of difference of opinion among members of the Commission, the opinion of the majority prevails.
  • The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.

Present status: Freeze on the number of seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies has postponed this until 2026. This was justified on the ground that a uniform population growth rate would be achieved throughout the country by 2026.