Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asserted that criteria other than population should also be considered for future delimitation exercises.
Assam will undergo a delimitation exercise of parliamentary and assembly seats based on the 2001 Census as it was done for other states but there should be a debate in the Parliament to bring in other criteria as well in the future, he said, without elaborating further.
The last delimitation exercise was undertaken in the state in 1976 on the basis of the 1971 Census.
"As per the current law, population is the basis for delimitation but some communities have abided by population control policy, while others have not. But those who have violated the policy are being rewarded and those who abided by it are being punished," he told reporters.
"In the next delimitation exercise, therefore, I am sure the Parliament will debate whether areas where people abided by population control policy should be punished or rewarded," he said.
Sarma said that in his opinion, population should not be the only criterion for delimitation exercises and other factors should be considered as well but "in the upcoming exercise, we have to go by the current law which states that constituencies will be delimited on the basis of population matrix".
However, he did not mention which other criteria should be considered.
He claimed that during the NRC exercise, it was seen that there has been a demographic change in the state "but the extent will be known only after the 2021 Census records are made available".
The chief minister, however, maintained that delimitation is a "non-political exercise to safeguard the future of the state and after the not-so-successful National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Assam Accord, it seems to be the way to ensure that the demography of the society and the state legislative assembly is maintained".
He said the exercise is primarily based on data and "we believe it is an exercise in fairness".
Regarding the merger of four districts into the ones they were carved out of, Sarma said it was a harsh decision to take but the administrative measure had to be taken in the interest of the state.
The Election Commission had on December 27 announced that the readjustment of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam will take place based on the 2001 Census.
The commission put a ban from January 1, 2023 on the creation of new administrative units in the state till the exercise was completed.
The move to redraw the assembly and parliamentary seats of Assam was initiated following a request from the Union Law Ministry.
Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of the territorial constituencies in a country or a state with a legislative body.
During the delimitation exercise, the commission will keep in mind the physical features, existing boundaries of administrative units, facility of communication and public convenience, and as far as practicable, the constituencies will be kept as geographically compact areas, the EC noted in a statement.
Once a draft proposal for the delimitation of constituencies is finalised by the commission, it will be published in the central and state gazettes inviting suggestions and objections from the general public.
The delimitation exercise is expected to be completed before the next general elections in 2024.
-With PTI Input
