J&K delimitation exercise hits hurdle
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 3
The delimitation exercise in Jammu & Kashmir is facing some hiccups as certain revenue units in the UT were found to be overlapping. The commission, assigned the task of redrawing constituencies, is learnt to have sought the services of the Survey of India (SoI) for remapping the Assembly segments.
Sources close to the development told The Tribune that new districts, tehsils and blocks, constituted earlier, were not demarcated properly. The Delimitation Commission has now asked the SoI to map the identified revenue units in such a way that the segments don’t overlap.
Survey of India to redraw boundaries
The delimitation panel has asked SoI to map revenue units in such a way that segments don’t overlap
At present, parts of certain Assembly constituencies fall in two districts
They said the boundary discrepancies were found by the commission, led by chairperson Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, when it visited J&K in July and interacted with district election officers of Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban.
“At present, parts of certain Assembly constituencies fall in two districts,” a source said, adding that this was the result of creation of eight more districts in 2007 by the Congress-PDP coalition government headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad. This was followed by the creation of several new administrative units, including tehsils, subdivisions and blocks, by the National Conference-Congress coalition led by Omar Abdullah.
As no delimitation of the Assembly constituencies was held thereafter, the administrative units kept functioning with dual control in different districts keeping the electorate in confusion. People living in one district were considered the electorate of an Assembly constituency falling in another district.
“The mapping will ensure that new constituencies are confined within the districts and their areas don’t overlap in other districts,” the source said.
