Delimitation to be deferred in five States

Delimitation to be deferred in five States
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance to defer the delimitation exercise in Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland in the wake of problems encountered there.
Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said that in Jharkhand, the exercise reduced the number of reserved seats for the Scheduled Tribes, whereas one of the objectives was to ensure that it remained the same as before if not increased.
In the northeast, several rural seats were being converted into urban constituencies.
The delimitation process has been completed for all Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in the rest of the country. For it to become operational in time for the 2009 general elections, a common presidential order has to be issued. A Bill would replace the ordinance in the budget session of Parliament.