2011 census data being used for delimitation

• The new Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir ( J&K) will be the only place in the country to undergo a delimitation exercise based on the population figures recorded in the 2011 census. The latest readjustment of boundaries of constituencies in the States and other Union Territories has been done based on the 2001 census and in the future, it will be carried out based on the 2031 census
• the unique provision for J&K was enabled through an amendment introduced in the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. The Act passed by Parliament on August 6 bifurcated the State of J&K into the Union Territories of J&K (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature). The J&K Assembly was dissolved in November 2018 and the region has been under Central rule since June 2018. 
• By the 2011 census, the population in the Kashmir region is 68,88,475, in Jammu 53,78,538 and in Ladakh 2,74,289. By a government reply in the Lok Sabha last year, there are 37,33,111 voters in the Jammu division, 40,10,971 in Kashmir and 1,79,147 voters in Ladakh in undivided J&K.
• Delimitation was last done in J&K in 1995.
• Section 63 was introduced in the J&K Reorganisation Act so that the delimitation exercise can be conducted smoothly without overlapping with other provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act, 2002. It is a saving clause and since J&K is a UT, it now has constitutional safeguards. The provision did not require any separate legislation as it was incorporated in the primary Act
• Section 63 (special provisions as to readjustment of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies) says that “until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published”, it shall not be necessary to readjust the constituencies and any reference to the “latest census figures” shall be construed as a reference to the 2011 census figures
• The Act says the number of seats in the Assembly would be increased from 107 to 114. 
• The delimitation will be done for 90 seats as 24 seats fall in Pakistan­occupied Kashmir (PoK). The exercise will take at least a year to complete. Till then, no elections can be held

Source: The Hindu