Interests of the backward areas and castes much linked with Timely conduct of delimitations
Daya Sagar Sharma
February 23, 2009
A Look Through the Mist
There is a fair case for constituting a new Delimitation Commission. But for doing that first requirement is to amend Section – 47 of the J&K Constitution to undo the sealing as imposed under 29 th Constitution Amendment Act of 2002 that has laid down that any new Delimitation can be done after the census results of 2026 AD are known.. Not even the number of constituencies to be reserved for Schedule caste can be redefined and constituencies relocated. Constitution of a new Delimitation Commission has otherwise also become necessary in view of number of districts administrative units in J&K having been increased from 14 to 22 .
Demands for setting up a new Delimitation Commission for delimiting the single member assembly segments in J&K Legislative Assembly may be made in the budget Session of the J&K Assembly starting from 25 th February. These demands may not create much pressure on the ruling coalition. Even if such a commission is set up after making the legal ground work, still effect of any readjustment of seats can only be seen after six years i.e in 2014 AD and the Delimitation Commission would have 5 years to work with .New Delimitation Commissions were constituted after 1981 census but the exercise could not be completed till 1994 . Through Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir ( twentieth amendment ) Act of 1987 the number of seats for J&K legislative assembly was increased from 100 to 111 . Out of these 24 seats were kept for Pakistan Occupied areas of J& K State. The new Delimitation Commission had to do delimitation for 87 seats of J&K Legislative Assembly as against 75 seats that were referred to earlier Commissions.
The 1996, 2002 and 2008 Legislative elections were held as per the delimitation done ( 27-04-1995) by K. K. Gupta Commission under Governor Rule... Justice K. K. Gupta Delimitation Commission had allocated 46 seats to areas falling in Kashmir Region and only 37 seats to areas falling in Jammu Region.. The Delimitation Commission was headed by a person who belonged to Jammu Region. Therefore , in case any allegations are made against the Delimitation Commission doing undue favours to Kashmir region, National Conference or any Kashmir Centric leadership can not be technically held guilty for the same. Even New Delhi could be held responsible for this. But the people of Jammu region do hold National Conference / Kashmir leadership responsible for this. National Conference should not ignore the ground reality. And ofcourse the interests of the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Caste too are very much linked with Timely conduct of delimitations
BJP till 2004 had never been demanding more seats for Jammu Region than Kashmir region. State BJP President Sh Ashok Khajuria did demand more seats in Legislative Assembly for Jammu Region ( 43 out of 87 ) as compared to Kashmir region. J &K National Panthers Party has raised voice but Panthers Party too had not earlier demanded a rational share of seats for all the three regions and had instead called for allocating seats to Jammu Region equal to Kashmir Region. . JKNPP demand asking for equal number of seats for Jammu and Kashmir Regions ( 52 each ) through a constitutional provision was not correct. Questions regarding delimitation of Assembly Segments were raised in the Legislative Assembly on 9-01-2008 by BJP, JSM and JKNPP MLAs . Congress and NC MLAs from Jammu region did not raise demand for legitimate share for the people of far flung areas . Where as the National Conference MLAs from Kashmir Valley have been always strongly opposing the demands for any fresh delimitation and leaders from Kashmir valley have been bold and honest to have suggested that Kashmiries will not accept less MLAs in Assembly even if the technical requirements so desire. Mr. Abdul Rahim Rather had rightly suggested on the floor of the Legislative Assembly on 9-01-08 that those who are talking of Delimitation Commission must move a bill in this regard to amend 29th Constitutional amendment and get it passed..
National Conference in 2002 October elections suffered more electoral loss in Jammu Province and Dr Farooq Abdullah was annoyed with the people of Jammu Region. Position in 2008 elections too does not match the expectations of NC leadership. Dr. Farooq Abdullah can now prevail upon his leaders from Kashmir Valley for doing justice to the people of Jammu Region and surely the people of Jammu Region will one day pay back.
Given the status as on date ,Delimitation Commission for delimiting the single member segments in J&K Legislative Assembly under Sub -Section (2) of Section 47 of J&K Constitution as laid down in the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the Peoples Act of 1957 can not be installed ateast 1931 ( year census after 2026 is due ) unless the J&K Constitution is amended to undo the 29th Constitutional Amendment. Any talks on the issue without that would be meaning less since provision under Section-47 sub- section 2 and sub section-3 of the J&K Constitution has been sealed till 2026/ 2031. Demands for a new Delimitation Commission have been made more by Jammu based political groups. Ofcourse leaders from Congress , National Conference and infant J&K Peoples Democratic Party have not made such demands. The leaders and people from Kashmir Valley have shown very less concern for constitution of a Delimitation Commissions since so far the balance of seats allocated in the J&K Legislative assembly has all along been tilted towards Kashmir Valley. But it is sure that any fair delimitation, if done under the provisions of J&K Representation of the People Act 1957 , balance would tilt the balance towards the Jammu Region. It could be said that the Kashmir Valley oriented leadership in J&K well understood that it may not be that easy in future to manipulate the delimitation commission reports. Hence 29th Jammu & Kashmir Constitution amendment Bill was passed in the year 2002. Through this amendment the Sub - Section 3 of section 47 of J&K Constitution was made inoperative atleast upto the year 2026. Amendment has laid down that no new delimitation of single member Assembly constituencies will be done till 2026. This way the State of Jammu & Kashmir had been divided indirectly divided into three parts in Legislative Assembly ( indirectly but unconstitutionally allocating 46 seats to Kashmir region, 37 seats to Jammu region and 4 seats to Ladhakh Region where as in principle 87 seats are to be rationally distributed in areas of all the 3 regions of J&K after every census by a regular Delimitation Commission ) with Kashmir Region playing the role of Big Brother at least upto 2031.
And to add to it , Section-49 of J&K Constitution too has been made practically in operative as regards determination of number of seats to be reserved for Schedule Caste candidates in the Legislative Assembly at least till the results of first census after the year 2026 AD are published.
Delimitation Commissions were constituted after 1981 census. But the exercise could not be completed till 1994 since ,though weak , the Jammu leadership did raise some hurdles. The leaders at New Delhi also never supported the people of Jammu. Through Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir ( twentieth amendment ) Act of 1987 the number of seats for J&K legislative assembly was increased from 100 to 111 . Out of these 24 seats were kept for Pakistan Occupied areas of J& K State. The new Delimitation Commission had to do delimitation for 87 seats of J&K Legislative Assembly as against 76 seats that were referred to earlier Commissions. I too had done a detailed exercise for a rational and scientific distribution of assembly seats as per the provisions of Section-4 of J&K representation of the people Act 1957. A note was also presented by me to the Chairman Delimitation Commission in 1994. But the Delimitation Commission notified the distribution of the seats ignoring the requirements of the Representation of the People Act of 1957. The delimitation report was rushed through by K. K. Gupta Commission.
The exercise done by me had slated 45 to 47 seats ( MLAs ) for Jammu region and 36 to 38 seats for Kashmir Region. At that time the implementation of Wazir Commission report was also pending. The Wazir Commission Report had recommended 9 ( nine ) Districts for Jammu region and only 7 ( seven ) Districts for Kashmir Region. The proportion of Districts as recommended by Wazir Commission nearly matched the proportion of MLAs as I had proposed for Jammu ( 45 to 47 ) and Kashmir (36 to 38 ) Regions. The area , topography and , means of communication were the factors in the favour of Jammu Region that were ignored by Justice KK Gupta Commission. A trial under the requirements of J&K Representation of the People Act 1957 would reveal that the Delimitation did not stand to the test.
Test -1: Jammu Region has more elected MLCs ( 14 ) in Legislative Council than 12 MLCs that Kashmir Region has under Section 50 of J&K Constitution . How can MLAs be less ???
Test -2 : Wazir Commission had recommended increasing the number of districts from 6 to 9 in Jammu Region . Where as for Kashmir Region Commission had recommended to inclease districts from 6 to only 7 This was surely due to Kashmir region being geographically more compact as compared to Jammu Region. Representation of the peoples Act too suggests like wise under Sub Section -2 Section-4.
Test-3 : The J&K Representation of People Act 1957 was designed by its authors in a very very special manner It could well be seen from the contents of clauses a - ( i) to a (v) of Sub Section ( 2) of section- (4) of the J&K RPA 1957. Four of five clauses under section four of the Act very explicitly demonstrate that any fair trial would allot more MLAs to areas falling in Jammu Region .
Geographical Compactness (Clause a- ii ) : Jammu region is much less compact than Kashmir region: Hence more representatives may needed in Assembly from areas falling in Jammu region.
Nature of terrain (Clause – a - iii ): The terrain of areas in Doda , Kishtwar, Udhampur, Reasi, Kishtwar, Ramban, Kathua, Rajouri and even some parts of Samba District is bad and difficult as compared to most of the areas in Kashmir region.
Facilities of Communication (Clause – a- iv ) : The surface transport infrastructure/ Roads in Jammu region is at much lower level as compared to Kashmir region. Hence it is more difficult for a MLA of these areas to visit his people or for people to visit him. Surely more MLAs are needed.
And the like considerations (Clause - a - v). Fair treatment has to be given to those who have suffered of neglect and under development over the years in the fields of tourism, agriculture and industrial infrastructure.
National Conference again holds the reins in 2009. The party has demanded Greater Autonomy for J&K in the name of erosion of provisions of Article 370 of Indian Constitution, so called 1952 Delhi Agreement and 1950 Constitution Application Order. Let National Conference prove to the people of Jammu Region that it really believes in securing the democratic rights of people . No one should be envy to the modified results incase the number of MLAs for the areas of erstwhile Districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Rajouri, Kupwara , Ramban etc get additional 9 to 10 seats and those that fell under Districts of Jammu, Srinagar, Badam, Ananatnag , Pulwama lose 9 to 10 seats out of present total strength of 87 MLAs with Jammu Region getting around 45 to 46 MLA and Kashmir Region getting around 37 to 38 MLA. Omar Abdullah has to prove NC being real saviour of the rights of people. National Conference is under real test of times. PDP for setting its roots in Kashmir would like to irritate National Conference leadership on different issues. It was during the days of National Conference Government that 29th Constitutional amendment was incorporated in 2002 . Let it be only the National Conference in 2009, the largest group in the J&K Legislative Assembly, again to pursue the cause but for withdrawing the 29th Constitutional amendment so that Delimitation Commission could be constitutionally constituted.. Let leaders from all regions of J&K take the requirements truly in the forth coming February 2009 session.*( Daya Sagar is social activist and leading scribe on Kashmir affairs)
There is a fair case for constituting a new Delimitation Commission. But for doing that first requirement is to amend Section – 47 of the J&K Constitution to undo the sealing as imposed under 29 th Constitution Amendment Act of 2002 that has laid down that any new Delimitation can be done after the census results of 2026 AD are known.. Not even the number of constituencies to be reserved for Schedule caste can be redefined and constituencies relocated. Constitution of a new Delimitation Commission has otherwise also become necessary in view of number of districts administrative units in J&K having been increased from 14 to 22 .
Demands for setting up a new Delimitation Commission for delimiting the single member assembly segments in J&K Legislative Assembly may be made in the budget Session of the J&K Assembly starting from 25 th February. These demands may not create much pressure on the ruling coalition. Even if such a commission is set up after making the legal ground work, still effect of any readjustment of seats can only be seen after six years i.e in 2014 AD and the Delimitation Commission would have 5 years to work with .New Delimitation Commissions were constituted after 1981 census but the exercise could not be completed till 1994 . Through Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir ( twentieth amendment ) Act of 1987 the number of seats for J&K legislative assembly was increased from 100 to 111 . Out of these 24 seats were kept for Pakistan Occupied areas of J& K State. The new Delimitation Commission had to do delimitation for 87 seats of J&K Legislative Assembly as against 75 seats that were referred to earlier Commissions.
The 1996, 2002 and 2008 Legislative elections were held as per the delimitation done ( 27-04-1995) by K. K. Gupta Commission under Governor Rule... Justice K. K. Gupta Delimitation Commission had allocated 46 seats to areas falling in Kashmir Region and only 37 seats to areas falling in Jammu Region.. The Delimitation Commission was headed by a person who belonged to Jammu Region. Therefore , in case any allegations are made against the Delimitation Commission doing undue favours to Kashmir region, National Conference or any Kashmir Centric leadership can not be technically held guilty for the same. Even New Delhi could be held responsible for this. But the people of Jammu region do hold National Conference / Kashmir leadership responsible for this. National Conference should not ignore the ground reality. And ofcourse the interests of the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Caste too are very much linked with Timely conduct of delimitations
BJP till 2004 had never been demanding more seats for Jammu Region than Kashmir region. State BJP President Sh Ashok Khajuria did demand more seats in Legislative Assembly for Jammu Region ( 43 out of 87 ) as compared to Kashmir region. J &K National Panthers Party has raised voice but Panthers Party too had not earlier demanded a rational share of seats for all the three regions and had instead called for allocating seats to Jammu Region equal to Kashmir Region. . JKNPP demand asking for equal number of seats for Jammu and Kashmir Regions ( 52 each ) through a constitutional provision was not correct. Questions regarding delimitation of Assembly Segments were raised in the Legislative Assembly on 9-01-2008 by BJP, JSM and JKNPP MLAs . Congress and NC MLAs from Jammu region did not raise demand for legitimate share for the people of far flung areas . Where as the National Conference MLAs from Kashmir Valley have been always strongly opposing the demands for any fresh delimitation and leaders from Kashmir valley have been bold and honest to have suggested that Kashmiries will not accept less MLAs in Assembly even if the technical requirements so desire. Mr. Abdul Rahim Rather had rightly suggested on the floor of the Legislative Assembly on 9-01-08 that those who are talking of Delimitation Commission must move a bill in this regard to amend 29th Constitutional amendment and get it passed..
National Conference in 2002 October elections suffered more electoral loss in Jammu Province and Dr Farooq Abdullah was annoyed with the people of Jammu Region. Position in 2008 elections too does not match the expectations of NC leadership. Dr. Farooq Abdullah can now prevail upon his leaders from Kashmir Valley for doing justice to the people of Jammu Region and surely the people of Jammu Region will one day pay back.
Given the status as on date ,Delimitation Commission for delimiting the single member segments in J&K Legislative Assembly under Sub -Section (2) of Section 47 of J&K Constitution as laid down in the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the Peoples Act of 1957 can not be installed ateast 1931 ( year census after 2026 is due ) unless the J&K Constitution is amended to undo the 29th Constitutional Amendment. Any talks on the issue without that would be meaning less since provision under Section-47 sub- section 2 and sub section-3 of the J&K Constitution has been sealed till 2026/ 2031. Demands for a new Delimitation Commission have been made more by Jammu based political groups. Ofcourse leaders from Congress , National Conference and infant J&K Peoples Democratic Party have not made such demands. The leaders and people from Kashmir Valley have shown very less concern for constitution of a Delimitation Commissions since so far the balance of seats allocated in the J&K Legislative assembly has all along been tilted towards Kashmir Valley. But it is sure that any fair delimitation, if done under the provisions of J&K Representation of the People Act 1957 , balance would tilt the balance towards the Jammu Region. It could be said that the Kashmir Valley oriented leadership in J&K well understood that it may not be that easy in future to manipulate the delimitation commission reports. Hence 29th Jammu & Kashmir Constitution amendment Bill was passed in the year 2002. Through this amendment the Sub - Section 3 of section 47 of J&K Constitution was made inoperative atleast upto the year 2026. Amendment has laid down that no new delimitation of single member Assembly constituencies will be done till 2026. This way the State of Jammu & Kashmir had been divided indirectly divided into three parts in Legislative Assembly ( indirectly but unconstitutionally allocating 46 seats to Kashmir region, 37 seats to Jammu region and 4 seats to Ladhakh Region where as in principle 87 seats are to be rationally distributed in areas of all the 3 regions of J&K after every census by a regular Delimitation Commission ) with Kashmir Region playing the role of Big Brother at least upto 2031.
And to add to it , Section-49 of J&K Constitution too has been made practically in operative as regards determination of number of seats to be reserved for Schedule Caste candidates in the Legislative Assembly at least till the results of first census after the year 2026 AD are published.
Delimitation Commissions were constituted after 1981 census. But the exercise could not be completed till 1994 since ,though weak , the Jammu leadership did raise some hurdles. The leaders at New Delhi also never supported the people of Jammu. Through Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir ( twentieth amendment ) Act of 1987 the number of seats for J&K legislative assembly was increased from 100 to 111 . Out of these 24 seats were kept for Pakistan Occupied areas of J& K State. The new Delimitation Commission had to do delimitation for 87 seats of J&K Legislative Assembly as against 76 seats that were referred to earlier Commissions. I too had done a detailed exercise for a rational and scientific distribution of assembly seats as per the provisions of Section-4 of J&K representation of the people Act 1957. A note was also presented by me to the Chairman Delimitation Commission in 1994. But the Delimitation Commission notified the distribution of the seats ignoring the requirements of the Representation of the People Act of 1957. The delimitation report was rushed through by K. K. Gupta Commission.
The exercise done by me had slated 45 to 47 seats ( MLAs ) for Jammu region and 36 to 38 seats for Kashmir Region. At that time the implementation of Wazir Commission report was also pending. The Wazir Commission Report had recommended 9 ( nine ) Districts for Jammu region and only 7 ( seven ) Districts for Kashmir Region. The proportion of Districts as recommended by Wazir Commission nearly matched the proportion of MLAs as I had proposed for Jammu ( 45 to 47 ) and Kashmir (36 to 38 ) Regions. The area , topography and , means of communication were the factors in the favour of Jammu Region that were ignored by Justice KK Gupta Commission. A trial under the requirements of J&K Representation of the People Act 1957 would reveal that the Delimitation did not stand to the test.
Test -1: Jammu Region has more elected MLCs ( 14 ) in Legislative Council than 12 MLCs that Kashmir Region has under Section 50 of J&K Constitution . How can MLAs be less ???
Test -2 : Wazir Commission had recommended increasing the number of districts from 6 to 9 in Jammu Region . Where as for Kashmir Region Commission had recommended to inclease districts from 6 to only 7 This was surely due to Kashmir region being geographically more compact as compared to Jammu Region. Representation of the peoples Act too suggests like wise under Sub Section -2 Section-4.
Test-3 : The J&K Representation of People Act 1957 was designed by its authors in a very very special manner It could well be seen from the contents of clauses a - ( i) to a (v) of Sub Section ( 2) of section- (4) of the J&K RPA 1957. Four of five clauses under section four of the Act very explicitly demonstrate that any fair trial would allot more MLAs to areas falling in Jammu Region .
Geographical Compactness (Clause a- ii ) : Jammu region is much less compact than Kashmir region: Hence more representatives may needed in Assembly from areas falling in Jammu region.
Nature of terrain (Clause – a - iii ): The terrain of areas in Doda , Kishtwar, Udhampur, Reasi, Kishtwar, Ramban, Kathua, Rajouri and even some parts of Samba District is bad and difficult as compared to most of the areas in Kashmir region.
Facilities of Communication (Clause – a- iv ) : The surface transport infrastructure/ Roads in Jammu region is at much lower level as compared to Kashmir region. Hence it is more difficult for a MLA of these areas to visit his people or for people to visit him. Surely more MLAs are needed.
And the like considerations (Clause - a - v). Fair treatment has to be given to those who have suffered of neglect and under development over the years in the fields of tourism, agriculture and industrial infrastructure.
National Conference again holds the reins in 2009. The party has demanded Greater Autonomy for J&K in the name of erosion of provisions of Article 370 of Indian Constitution, so called 1952 Delhi Agreement and 1950 Constitution Application Order. Let National Conference prove to the people of Jammu Region that it really believes in securing the democratic rights of people . No one should be envy to the modified results incase the number of MLAs for the areas of erstwhile Districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Rajouri, Kupwara , Ramban etc get additional 9 to 10 seats and those that fell under Districts of Jammu, Srinagar, Badam, Ananatnag , Pulwama lose 9 to 10 seats out of present total strength of 87 MLAs with Jammu Region getting around 45 to 46 MLA and Kashmir Region getting around 37 to 38 MLA. Omar Abdullah has to prove NC being real saviour of the rights of people. National Conference is under real test of times. PDP for setting its roots in Kashmir would like to irritate National Conference leadership on different issues. It was during the days of National Conference Government that 29th Constitutional amendment was incorporated in 2002 . Let it be only the National Conference in 2009, the largest group in the J&K Legislative Assembly, again to pursue the cause but for withdrawing the 29th Constitutional amendment so that Delimitation Commission could be constitutionally constituted.. Let leaders from all regions of J&K take the requirements truly in the forth coming February 2009 session.*( Daya Sagar is social activist and leading scribe on Kashmir affairs)
Print
Email
