Test: Delimitation Commission of India - UPSC MCQ

The Delimitation Commission is responsible for the timely delimitation (redrawing) of constituencies for Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies to ensure fair representation of population changes and demographic shifts.

The Delimitation Commission is constituted every 10 years, after the census is conducted, to readjust the electoral boundaries.

The President of India appoints the members of the Delimitation Commission.

• A retired judge of the Supreme Court
• The Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner nominated by CEC.
• State Election Commissioners (of the respective states)

The term of office for the members of the Delimitation Commission is until the next census is conducted.

Presence of national highways is not a criterion for delimitation of constituencies. The main criteria are geographical compactness, territorial continuity, and homogeneity of the electorate.

The Delimitation Commission of India was first constituted in 1952.

The Delimitation Act of 2002 empowered the Election Commission to conduct delimitation.

The Delimitation Commission is not responsible for delimiting constituencies in Union Territories.

The Delimitation Commission follows a separate formula for allocating seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, ensuring adequate representation for these communities.

The last delimitation exercise in India was conducted in 2007.

 In case of a disagreement among the members of the Delimitation Commission, the majority vote among the members prevails.

Economic policy formulation is not a challenge faced by the Delimitation Commission during the delimitation process. The challenges primarily revolve around population changes and boundary disputes.

The "freeze on delimitation" refers to the electoral boundaries remaining unchanged for a specified period, often due to political reasons or agreements.

Article 324 in the Constitution of India deals with the Delimitation Commission.

The primary objective of the Delimitation Commission is to redraw electoral boundaries based on population changes and demographic shifts.

After the last delimitation, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of seats in the Lok Sabha.

In addition to population, the delimitation process considers geographical features and infrastructure, like topography, accessibility, etc.

The delimitation order is reviewed and approved by the President of India.

The Delimitation Commission ensures a fair representation of the population by increasing the number of constituencies in densely populated areas and decreasing them in sparsely populated areas, so each representative represents a roughly equal number of voters.