Jammu and Kashmir: What is the plan of the Delimitation Commission?

Ground Report | New Delhi: What is the plan of the Delimitation Commission?. The Delimitation Commission on Wednesday held discussions with all the Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir regarding the reorganization of existing assembly constituencies and the creation of seven new seats.

It has been told that all 20 Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir participated in this virtual meeting, in which information was collected about how to make the assembly seats more geographically organized. The development comes amid the Centre's efforts to speed up the political processes in Jammu and Kashmir.

This virtual meeting of the Delimitation Commission took place ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled meeting on Thursday, in which he is going to chair a meeting with a select group of political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. According to experts, in this meeting, the framework for conducting assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is expected to be decided.

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News agency PTI has reported that under the delimitation process, some assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir are to be reserved for Scheduled Tribes. After the delimitation exercise, the number of assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir will increase from 83 to 90. Twenty-four seats of the assembly remain vacant due to falling in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) (What is the plan of the Delimitation Commission).

According to local media reports, the Delimitation Commission had recently sought information regarding the existing constituencies including geography and available facilities, and sought their suggestions from the Deputy Commissioners to make them geographically organized. After receiving the data and suggestions, the Delimitation Commission decided to hold an online meeting with the Deputy Commissioners to take the matter forward.

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Jammu and Kashmir have been under the central rule since November 2018 and on 5 August 2019, the central government abolished its special status, after which Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh were bifurcated into two separate union territories.

The Delimitation Commission, set up in March last year, has been given the responsibility of redrawing the constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir which is currently under central rule. This year, the commission, headed by Justice (retd) R Desai, was given an extension of one year to complete its work.

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