October 08, 2001

'7'

RATIFICATION OF CONSTITUTION (91ST AMENDMENT) BILL UNDERWAY

    The Constitution (91st Amendment) Bill, 2001, which seeks to extend the fresh delimitation upto the year, 2026 has been sent to the State Assemblies for ratification under the provisions of Article 368 of the Constitution by a majority of States before the President gives his assent and the Bill becomes an Act.

    The Constitution (91st Amendment) Bill, 2001, which seeks to enable State Governments as a motivational measures to pursue fearlessly the agenda for population stabilization and undertake simultaneously readjustment and rationalisation of electoral constituencies including those reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes, based on the population census for the 1991, without affecting the number of seats allocated to the States in the legislative bodies.

    As per the provisos to Articles 82 and 170 (3) of the Constitution, no fresh adjustment of constituencies can be undertaken until the figures of the first census taken after the year 200 become available. These provisions were added to the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 as a measure to boost family planning (welfare) norms. In view of the recent census, the Constitutional embargo on undertaking fresh delimitation would lapse as soon as the figures of this census was published.