Indications are that the national decadal census, delayed due to the Covid outbreak, will take place in 2025. This is necessary because a number of governance issues depend on the data it generates. Political and academic debate will be better informed and suitably directed. Traditionally, there has been a column on caste identity in the census, and if this aspect is transformed into the much desired ‘caste-census’, there is a strong likelihood that Muslims and other communities may be included. Correlated with other information, it would give a clear picture of what the economic and social status is of almost all sections of society. It is important to know if the benefits of development are skewed in favour of certain sections and, if so, why.
The results of the census are of equal importance in the much-needed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. India’s large population requires proper representation through an increased number of seats. Apart from the fact that women’s reservation is linked to this, having MPs represent constituencies that have huge populations is unfair. It would be difficult for public representatives to articulate the requirements of all their constituents. Consider, for example, Dehradun, with its unique characteristics and needs, is clubbed with areas that are on an entirely different development plane. An MP can do justice to neither. There are many constituencies across the country that face the same problem.
Consider in this context the fact that the British House of Commons has 650 members, representing a population of approximately 68 million people. India’s Lok Sabha has 545 seats, representing an estimated 1.45 billion people. How well does that reflect the political reality? Those seeking election compromise with so many contrasting interests that they end up representing nobody. It is no surprise that there is so little clarity in parliamentary debates.
At the same time, delimitation is not going to be an easy task because states that have not been able to control population growth as compared to more ‘efficient’ states, could cause the latter to get proportionately fewer seats. This concern has already been expressed by leaders of the southern states. This is, however, not an impossible problem to solve. A compensatory bias can be introduced into the calculations to reduce the impact, even while doing justice to the areas with larger populations. There cannot be any more delay because many of the socio-economic decisions necessary for balanced and equitable development in the country will not be possible unless these reforms are undertaken.
