♤ Readjustment after each Census

After every Census, a readjustment is to be made in allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the States and division of each State into territorial constituencies. The parliament is empowered to determine the authority and manner in which it is to be made.

Under Article 82 of the Constitution, the Parliament may by law enact a Delimitation Act after every census. After the Act comes into force, the Central Government constitutes a Delimitation Commission. This Delimitation Commission demarcates the boundaries of the Parliamentary Constituencies as per provisions of the Delimitation Act.

The number of seats allocated to each state was frozen by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 till the year 2000 at the 1971 level. The 84th Amendment Act, 2001, extended this period up to 2026.

The 87th Amendment Act, 2003 allowed the rationalization of territorial constituencies on the basis of census of 2001.

The orders of Delimitation Commission have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court. These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India on this behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible in them. So far, Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times - in 1952, 1963, 1973 and in 2002.