Will go by 2011 census for J&K delimitation, says CEC Sushil Chandra

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 9

Countering the claims made by the PDP about the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra today said there was nothing “pre-planned” and the process would be fair and transparent.

Also read: For delimitation, why couldn’t govt wait for 2021 census? asks Omar Abdullah

Panel winds up four-day UT visit

• The panel will prepare a final draft on J&K delimitation after inputs from all stakeholders
• It met 800 people in 290 groups over 4 days in Srinagar and Jammu

All stakeholders will be consulted

People are facing difficulties due to the overlapping of districts. A final draft will be prepared only after taking inputs from all stakeholders. -  Sushil Chandra, CEC

The PDP, which did not meet the visiting Delimitation Commission in Srinagar on Tuesday, in a communication to the panel had said that the outcome of the exercise was “widely believed to be pre-planned and that may further hurt the interests of our people”.

On the conclusion of the commission’s four-day visit to J&K, Chandra told reporters in Jammu: “If something was decided earlier, the commission would not have come here. Nothing has been pre-planned so far. Before starting the exercise, we wanted to have everyone’s views. Such apprehensions in anyone’s mind, if at all, should go away.”

On the demand for “justice” to the Jammu region, the CEC said that for the panel, J&K was one territory and delimitation would be done on the basis of the 2011 census. Geographical compactness and topography would also be looked into, he added.

The 2011 census recorded Jammu’s population as 53,78,538 and Kashmir’s 68,88,475.

Chandra said the first full-fledged Delimitation Commission was formed in 1981 and submitted its recommendation after 14 years in 1995. It was based on the 1981 census and thereafter there has been no delimitation.

The panel, led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, had arrived in Srinagar on July 6 and reached Jammu yesterday for a two-day visit.

CEC Chandra, who is also a member of the commission, admitted that people were facing difficulties due to the overlapping of districts. A final draft would be prepared only after taking inputs from all stakeholders, he said, adding that the panel met 800 people in 290 groups.

On the PDP’s decision to boycott deliberations with the panel, Justice Desai is reported to have said, “We can only interact with those who wanted to meet us and participate in the process. What can we say about those who didn’t come?” She went on to add that the panel would visit the UT again.

Chandra said the panel would prepare a draft document on delimitation after consultation with all associate members and it would be put in public domain for comments.

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