Next round of IAEA talks may be final

Centre gets powers to exclude states from delimitation process.

An Ordinance to empower the Union government to exclude any state from the delimitation of the Lok Sabha and Assemblies was today cleared by the Cabinet.

Delimitation is the creation of new Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, undertaken by the Delimitation Commission, following demographic changes.

The exercise was completed taking into account the changes in the population of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other communities on the basis of the 2001 census, replacing the 1971 census.

But in some states, the teams compiling this data have not been allowed to work. Accordingly, the Centre has armed itself through an ordinance, with the power of stalling the delimitation process in a state citing 'law and order problems'.

According to sources, Jharkhand has been the only state specifically mentioned in the proposed legislation which is also aimed at excluding four north-eastern states "" Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

There is resentment in these north-eastern states against proposed delimitation of constituencies. The commission, led by Kuldip Singh, is yet to begin its work in these states. The government fears if Singh and other officers of the commission begin visiting these states, the situation might turn volatile.

According to a minister, "Parliament through the Delimitation Act has directed the commission to complete the delimitation exercise. So, we need another piece of law to stop the commission from going to those places."

In the case of Jharkhand, there is controversy regarding the status of tribal-dominated seats. Parties, cutting across their political lines, have rejected the proposed contour of the constituencies. To avoid further trouble, the government will keep it out of delimitation for the time being.

The delimitation exercise is complete in 25 states (including Jharkhand). While Jharkhand is now kept out of the ambit, the government will start notifying the other states as and when it wants.