New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Assembly on Thursday issued a final order finalizing the work of redefining the Assembly constituencies for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. For the first time 9 blocks have been allotted to Tribes (STs).
In 2019, the federal government repealed Section 370, which gave special status to Kashmir. Accordingly, two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were formed. A three-member Boundary Commission headed by retired Judge Ranjana Desai has been set up to redefine constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
The commission released its final report on Thursday. It was also published in the Gazette. Details of the Final Delimitation Order Report: As per the provisions of Section 60 (2) (b) of the Jammu and Kashmir Reconstruction Act, 2019, Section 9 (1) (a) of the Delimitation Act, 2002, 43 of the 90 Assembly constituencies in the region are located in the Jammu and Kashmir region. , 47 will also be in the Kashmir region.
After consultation with associate members, political party representatives, citizens, and civil society groups, 9 legislative constituencies were reserved for tribals. Of these, 6 constituencies are in Jammu region and 3 constituencies are in Kashmir.
There are 5 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The Final Boundary Commission saw Jammu and Kashmir as a single union territory. Therefore, a Lok Sabha constituency has been formed connecting the Anantnag region of Kashmir and the Rajouri and Poonch areas of the Jammu region. With this constituency reorganization, each Lok Sabha constituency will have an equal number of 18 Assembly constituencies.
It is said that the names of some constituencies have been changed at the request of the local representatives.
This Boundary Commission was set up by the Government of India. The Commission consisted of 5 members of the Lok Sabha elected from the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory under Section 3 of the Boundaries Act, 2002 to determine the boundaries of the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. These co-members of the Commission were nominated by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Apart from retired Judge Ranjana Desai, Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Jammu and Kashmir State Election Commissioner KK Sharma were the official members of the Boundary Commission. The committee comprised of five National Assembly MPs Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone, Hasnain Masjid, Union Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh and BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma.
“The list of seats to be allotted to Scheduled Castes in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is as follows: (SCs) and Tribes (STs) formed on the basis of the 2011 Census.
Accordingly, the Boundary Commission has for the first time allotted 9 Assembly constituencies to the Tribals and 7 Assembly constituencies to the Scheduled Castes. Earlier, the Election Commission had said that the Constitution of the State of Jammu and Kashmir did not provide for reservation for Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly.
The Boundary Commission, set up in 2020, was tasked with completing the demarcation process within a year. However, due to the corona freeze in the country, the work could not be completed within the stipulated time and its tenure was extended for another year at the request of the team members to extend the deadline.
.
