[viswanadha.v.v]

#) Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The job of delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission.

#) The representation from each state is not changed during this exercise. However, the number of SC and ST seats in a state are changed in accordance with the census

#) In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation
Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.

#) 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. These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.

#) There is no delimitation in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and in the UnionTerritories of Andaman and Nicobar Island, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, and Lakshadweep

#) Delimitation Commission Comprises of Justice Kuldip Singh (Chairman), Chief Election Commissioner of India N. Gopalaswami (Ex-Officio member),State Election Commissioners of Individual States concerned (Ex-Officio members).

#) The Commission shall also associate in its work, in respect of each State, five members of Lok Sabha elected from that State (or all such members if their number is less than five) and five members of the State Legislative Assembly. These Associate Members shall be nominated by the Hon’ble Speakers of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies concerned. But these Associate Members shall have no voting right.

#) Articles 81,82,170,330,332 of the Indian Constitution deal with the constitution provisions of Delimitation in India / Delimitation Commission of India.

#) The Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act, 2001 and the Constitution (Eighty-seventh Amendment) Act, 2003 have, inter alia, amended Articles 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332 of the Constitution of India. The cumulative effect of these amendments to the Constitution is that –

(i) the total number of existing seats as allocated to various States* in the House of the People on the basis of 1971 census shall remain unaltered till the first census to be taken after the year 2026;

(ii) the total number of existing seats in the Legislative Assemblies of all States as fixed on the basis of 1971 census shall also remain unaltered till the first census to be taken after the year 2026;

(iii) the number of seats to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies shall be re-worked out on the basis of 2001 census;

(iv) each State shall be redelimited into territorial parliamentary and assembly constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and the extent of such constituencies as delimited now shall remain frozen till the first census to be taken after the year 2026; and

(v) the constituencies shall be so re-delimited that population (on the basis of 2001 census) of each parliamentary and assembly constituency in a State shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the State.
Note * : ‘State’ here does not include the State of Jammu and Kashmir, but includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Pondicherry

# For Scheduled Castes, 79 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha. For Scheduled Tribes, 41 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha. The 1st schedule to Representation of People Act, 1950 gives the Statewise break up. These numbers are going to change once the Current report on delimitation gets the presidential approval. CCPA (Cabinet committe on Political affairs) has already decided to implement the same.


The government suspended delimitation in 1976 until after the 2001 census so that states' family planning programmes would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha. Delimitation Exercise was re-started in 2002 when a new delimitation commission was set up by the government under the chairmanship of retired Supreme Court Justice Kuldip Singh. This exercise was based on 2001 Census data.