Delimitation of Jammu-Kashmir initiated with the North Eastern States -

New Delhi: The process of delimiting, to rearrange the parliamentary and legislative assembly constituencies has been initiated in the states of Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland along with Jammu and Kashmir. Delimitation Commission has been formed, and retired Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai will be the President of the commission. The union government announced this decision on Friday.

The union government withdrew the special status for Jammu-Kashmir with the abrogation of Article 370. Now Jammu and Kashmir have been made into union territories. There was a demand for delimitation even when Jammu-Kashmir was a state. But the incumbent governments in Jammu-Kashmir had postponed the decision. Delimitation is the process to rearrange the parliamentary and legislative assembly constituencies based on the population of the region. The then governments in Jammu-Kashmir were opposed to the proposal. But now, Jammu-Kashmir is a union territory and it has become easy for the union government to decide on delimitation.

Along with Jammu-Kashmir, a union territory as of now, the process of delimitation will be implemented even if north-eastern states of Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Delimitation Commission has been formed for this purpose. Retired judge Ranjana Prakash Desai will be heading the commission. Ranjana Desai, who served as a Judge at the Mumbai High Court, also served as a supreme court judge from September 2011 to October 2014.

Meanwhile, with the start of the delimitation process, there could be a beneficial effect from the security point of view in the sensitive areas of Jammu-Kashmir. The people of the state were complaining that although Jammu-Kashmir was a state, they were not getting sufficient representation in the parliament and state legislature in the proportion of the population. Especially the people of Jammu were persistently demanding delimitation. The people in Jammu welcomed this decision.

There is a possibility that more information regarding the delimitation process will soon be available in the public domain. The country will get immensely benefitted on the political front, and the people of the region will be able to send their representative to the parliament and state legislature in proportion to their population.