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| It's also time to delimit assembly constituencies in J&K | | Jammu deserves proper representation | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 14: Bold decisions taken by the J&K Governor, SP Malik, have emboldened many in Jammu to demand fresh delimitation of the assembly constituencies in the state on the ground that the 2002 Amendment of the State Constitution and the J&K Representation of People's Act was undemocratic and unconstitutional and all that was done was done to hurt the Jammu's cause or scuttle the age-old demand in Jammu for a proper representation in the assembly. The state Constitution was amended by the Farooq Abdullah Government and it was supported by all, including the Congress, the PDP, the CPI-M, the BJP and the PDF. The Panthers Party was the only party that opposed the amendment.
The demand in Jammu for fresh delimitation is as genuine as it deserves immediate appreciation. It would be only appropriate if the state Governor considers fresh delimitation of constituencies and constitute a Delimitation Commission to remove the regional imbalance between Kashmir and Jammu. It needs to be underlined that the J&K Constitution, which was enforced on January 26, 1957, was based on the J&K Constitutional Act of 1939. After accession to India, the J&K Constituent Assembly was constituted under the 1939 Act in 1951. But the Sheikh Abdullah's anti-Jammu and anti-Ladakh administration gave 43 seats to Kashmir, 30 to Jammu and a paltry 2 to Ladakh. This disparity perpetuated in 1995: Kashmir was given 46 seats, Jammu 37 and Ladakh 2.
It is also pertinent to mention that the last delimitation exercise in the state took place under the President's rule and was finally accomplished by Justice (retd) KK Gupta-headed Delimitation Commission in 1995. As the Constitution provides for delimitation every 10 years, the next delimitation of assembly constituencies should have taken place in 2005. But, in 2002, the Farooq Abdullah Government banned delimitation until 2026 by amending the J&K Representation of the People's Act 1957 and Section 47(3) of the J&K Constitution. The amended Section 47(3) provided "that until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the state and the division of the state into territorial constituencies under this sub-section".
This simply means that the next delimitation can take place only after census 2031, unless the state Governor intervenes and rectifies this irregularity. This is unfair and unjustifiable. The state Governor would do well to take into account the genuineness of the demand and appoint delimitation commission so that Jammu got its due share of representation in the assembly, which discusses and decides questions of supreme importance to the well-being and happiness of the people. |
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