Delimitation Commission
7-Feb-2023: Effects of Delimitation on Southern states
Delimitation
- Is the act of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent changes in population.
- Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
- Delimitation Commissions were set up 4 times - 1952, 1963, 1973, and 2002.
- First delimitation exercise was carried out in 1950-51 by the President with the help of the Election Commission.
- Constitution mandates allocation of seats in Lok Sabha based on the population of each state.
- Last delimitation exercise was completed in 1976 based on the 1971 census.
- Constitution was amended during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule in 1976 to suspend delimitation until 2001.
- Another amendment was postponed delimitation until 2026
Constitutional provisions:
- Article 82: Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census
- Article 170: States were divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census
Need:
- Equal representation to equal segments of a population
- Fair division of geographical areas
- One Vote One Value principle
Delimitation Commission
- Appointed by President of India
- Works with Election Commission of India
- Composition
- Retired Supreme Court judge
- Chief Election Commissioner
- State Election Commissioners
- Functions
- Determine number and boundaries of constituencies
- Make population of all constituencies nearly equal
- Identify seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
- Powers
- Majority opinion prevails
- Orders have force of law
- Cannot be challenged in court.
How Delimitation is Being Unfair to the Southern States?
Development
- Southern states have improved economically in recent years.
- There has been a significant reduction in poverty and an increase in income levels.
- The combined GDP of just three Southern states is greater than 13 states in the East.
Educational and Health Outcomes
- Southern regions have performed better in terms of children being enrolled in schools and having better learning outcomes.
- A higher proportion of graduates in Southern states indicates the greater prevalence of a specific set of skills.
- Tamil Nadu has 314 Covid testing centres for a population of 78.8 million as of December 2021, while Uttar Pradesh has only 305 Covid testing centres for a population of 235 million.
Governance Factor
- The ability to discern and the quality of decision-making must be significantly better in Southern states.
- The electorate in Southern states is more likely to vote for better governance compared to the North.
Advantages for the North
- The existing distribution of parliamentary constituencies across the States is tilted in favour of populous states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar.
- Southern states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka have a lesser number of seats.
- Delimitation will result in a decrease in the number of seats allocated to Southern states, compared to the Northern states, during the next delimitation process.
- During the electoral representation, it should be kept in mind that it is not the number of people, but their quality that should be the deciding factor.
Issues:
- Inadequate representation: Bihar and Uttar Pradesh gain 21 seats, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala lose 16 seats.
- Affects the reservations of seats for SCs/STs.
- Inadequate funding: Southern states will lose funding and representation in parliament.
- Demographic dividend: Legislators and policymakers will have to factor in demographic and political changes over 60 years.
Recommendations:
- Establish a robust plan: Make a firm commitment to reallocating resources after 2031 without further delays.
- Increase the number of seats: MPs representing smaller constituencies for more efficient governance.
- Increasing the number of seats is a more politically feasible option as it is easier for politicians to agree to adding seats in certain areas or states, rather than giving up seats in areas where they have more power.
- Maintain existing position: Increase the total number of seats to ensure that no state loses seats.
- Adequate representation: Plan for at least 888 seats in the new Lok Sabha for adequate representation.
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
7-Feb-2023: NCST is not at capacity
NCST is currently functioning with less than 50% of its sanctioned strength.
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
- Constitutional body
- Formed in 2004 by amending Article 338 and inserting a new article 338A in the Constitution
- Replaced the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Objectives:
- Oversee implementation of safeguards for Scheduled Tribes
- Evaluate the working of safeguards
Composition:
- Chairperson
- Vice-Chairperson
- 3 other Members
- Chairperson has the rank of Union Cabinet Minister, Vice-Chairperson has the rank of a Minister of State and other Members have the rank of Secretary to the Government of India
- Members are not eligible for appointments for more than two terms
Duties and Functions:
- Investigate and monitor all matters relating to safeguards provided for STs
- Inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of STs
- Participate and advise in the planning process of socio-economic development of STs
- Evaluate progress of development
- Provide reports on the operation of those safeguards to the President annually and as necessary
- Make recommendations for effective implementation of those safeguards
Provisions Related to STs in India
Definition of STs:
- No defined criteria for recognition
- "Backward tribes" in Excluded and Partially Excluded areas (Census-1931)
- Representatives of "backward tribes" in provincial assemblies (Govt. of India Act, 1935)
Constitutional Provisions:
- Article 366(25): Provides a process to define STs
- Article 342(1): President may specify tribes/tribal communities/part of or groups within tribes/ tribal communities as STs in any State/UT after consultation with the Governor of that state. Not necessary to consult governor in case of UT.
- Fifth Schedule: Provisions for Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and STs in states other than 6th Schedule States
- Sixth Schedule: Administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram
Statutory Provisions:
- Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 against Untouchability
- Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
- Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996
- Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
e-Courts Project
4-Feb-2023: e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project
e-Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project in India
- Launched by Government of India for computerization of District and subordinate courts
- Implementation started in 2007, under National e-Governance Plan
- Being implemented in association with e-Committee Supreme Court of India and the Department of Justice
Phases of Implementation
- Phase I: implemented during 2011-2015
- Phase II: started in 2015, various District & Subordinate courts have been computerized
- Phase III: draft vision document finalized and approved by eCommittee, Supreme Court of India
Initiatives taken under the project
- Improvisation of Network: Wide Area Network (WAN) Project for improved connectivity provided to 99.4% of total Court Complexes across India
- Open-Source Software: Case Information Software (CIS) developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) based on Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS)
- NJDG Database: National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a database of orders, judgments, and cases, created as an online platform under the eCourts Project
- Access to Case Status Information: Open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) introduced in 2020 to allow Central and State Governments and institutional litigants including local bodies to access NJDG data
- 7 platforms created to provide real-time information on case status, cause lists, judgements, etc. to lawyers/Litigants
- Electronic Case Management Tools (ECMT) created with Mobile Apps for lawyers and judges
- Virtual Courts: 21 Virtual Courts in 17 States/UTs have been operationalized to handle traffic challan cases
- Video-Conferencing (VC): facilities enabled between court complexes and corresponding jails
- E-filing: New e-filing system rolled out for the electronic filing of legal papers with upgraded features
- National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP) launched for technology-enabled process serving and issuing of summons
- User-friendly Portal: A new “Judgment Search” portal started with several user-friendly features
New Features in Phase III
- Digital and Paperless Courts aimed at bringing court proceedings under a digital format in a court
- Online Court focusing on eliminating the presence of litigants or lawyers in the court
- Expansion of the scope of Virtual Courts beyond adjudication of Traffic Violations
- Use of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its subsets like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) etc for analysis of case pendency, forecasting future litigation, etc.