RETRIBUTION FOR THE SOUTH, ACCOLADE FOR THE NORTH

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RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS 2: POLITY: DELIMITATION; PARLIAMENT; FISCAL DEVOLUTION; FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS; FEDERAL ISSUES; GS 1: SOCIETY: POPULATION RELATED ISSUES

 THE CONTEXT:

Southern states are facing a disadvantage due to less population with less political representation and a lesser share of central funds due to the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats and the provisions of 14^th Finance commission, respectively.

WHAT IS DELIMITATION?

• According to the Election Commission of India, delimitation means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The job of delimitation is assigned to the Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission (statutory body).
• Till date, Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952; in 1963 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1962; in 1973 under the Delimitation Act, 1972; and in 2002 under the Delimitation Act, 2002.
• Article 81 of the Constitution stipulates that Lok Sabha constituencies in the country should be equal by the size of the population.
• Based on the 1971 Census, the number of Lok Sabha constituencies for States was determined and frozen for the next 25 years through the 42nd Amendment Act 1976.
• In 2001, through the 84th Amendment Act, the freeze on the number of constituencies for each State was further prolonged until the first Census after 2026.

HOW IS DELIMITATION UNFAIR TO THE SOUTHERN STATES?

• The new Parliament building is built to accommodate 888 members, while the current strength of the lower house is 545. This means that if the freeze on delimitation is lifted in 2026 and a census-based redrawing of Lok Sabha constituencies is carried out, there can be more MPs.
• If equal size of Lok Sabha constituencies by population is enforced today as in the population projections of 2023, the five southern States will lose 23 seats, while the northern States will gain 37. In other words, the proportion of political representation of northern States will increase by 6.81% and that of southern States will decline by 4.24%.
• Thus, a population-based delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies has been long opposed by political parties in the South. They have argued that a population-based delimitation will give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha.
• Southern states which have implemented family planning programs more effectively than the states in North India would be penalized through reduced political representation.

HOW IS FISCAL DEVOLUTION UNFAIR TO SOUTHERN STATES?

• The union government constitutes a Finance Commission once in five years to recommend the share of each State in the assigned tax revenue of the Union government.
• Every Finance Commission recommends a formula for the horizontal distribution of the Union government’s tax revenue among the States.
• Population and per capita income of a State are considered to be two important indicators that are always included in the distribution formula with larger weights.

1. Distribution on the basis of Population:

• • The first Finance Commission decided a State’s share based on its population size. However, the successive Finance Commissions reduced the weight assigned to the population in the distribution formula while including other variables and used 1971 population in distribution formula which continued till the Thirteenth Finance Commission (2010-15).
  • However, the Fourteenth Finance Commission declared taking the 2011 population thus, the established practice of rewarding the southern States for controlling the population was replaced by awarding the populous States.

2. Distribution of basis of per capita:

• • There is another factor that consistently brings in the current population in the distribution formula the per capita income of a State. The per capita income of a State is considered as a proxy for its ability to raise its own revenue.
  • The higher the per capita income of a State, the lower its share in the Union tax revenue. Lower per capita income of a State may be due to higher population for a given Gross State Domestic Product. Therefore, the higher the current population of a State, the higher its share in the Union tax revenue. It is important to note that usually the per capita income is assigned larger weight in the distribution formula favouring the northern States.
  • The combined share of the five southern States in the Union government’s tax revenue from 2000-05 to 2021-26 declined from 21.1% to 15.8%. On the contrary, the combined share of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh increased from 51.5% to 53.2%.
  • Therefore, using the current population for delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies is clear retribution for the population control efforts of the southern States and a transparent accolade for the higher growth rate of population in the northern States.

ISSUES:

• Difference in growth rates: The population growth rates differ between the non-Hindi speaking southern States and the Hindi-speaking northern States. Between 1971 and 2011, the proportion of the population of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh increased from 44% to 48.2%, whereas the proportion of population of the five southern States (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana) declined from 24.9% to 21.1%.
• Flawed Criteria of one person one vote: In the existing ‘First Past the Post’ election system winners are elected by even less than one third of votes polled.To give a perspective, from the 2019 election numbers, we can see that a Member of Parliament from the northern States of represent around 18 lakh registered electors, while the five southern State Member of Parliament represent 16 lakh registered electors. But in both these two groups of States, it requires only 12 lakh voters to elect a Member of Parliament. The real meaning of ‘one person, one vote’ is lost in this system and is flawed.
• Disincentivize the population control: Population control happens because of social change in society but reducing political representation defeats their purpose. This not only disincentivize southern states but also an incentive for others not to take population control and social change as public policy seriously.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Balanced representation: There is a need of proper policy framing for adequate and balanced representation of both northern and southern states and prevent any state from losing its current number of seats. At the same time, fiscal devolution should in such manner that progressive states are rewarded and backwards states gets enough incentives to show some progress. For example, Canada has been consistently increasing the proportion of representation in the national Parliament for the less populous provinces. The attempt to equalise the size of constituencies by population is based on the dictum, “One Person, One Vote”.
• Population control: Northern states should emulate the success of southern states in fertility reduction. Government and civil societies in Northern states needs to proactively act to update entire state apparatus to achieve population balance.
• Awareness: There should be awareness and education programmes for citizens with a women’s centric approach with incentivizing late marriages and childbirths and increased labour force participation. It will control population with balanced sex ratio and enhanced political representation.

THE CONCLUSION:

Family planning and population control are the stated policies of the national and regional governments in India. States that have implemented these policies and effectively controlled their population should not be penalised through reduced political representation after delimitation in subsequent periods.

 SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/retribution-for-the-south-accolade-for-the-north/article67381325.ece

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail. (2021)
2. How far do you think cooperation, competition and confrontation have shaped the nature of federation in India? Cite some recent examples to validate your answer. (2020)
   

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Using the current population for delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies is clear retribution for the population control efforts of the southern States and a transparent accolade for the higher growth rate of population in the northern States. Examine.

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