By IANS
New Delhi : The term of the Delimitation Commission, set up to readjust the territorial constituencies for both the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies, has been extended by one year – in the second such extension.
The term of the commission, set up in July 2002 for a two-year term and headed by Justice (Retd) Kuldeep Singh, was to end July 31 this year. Its task is to readjust the territorial constituencies on the basis of census figures, without affecting the total number of seats allocated to each state in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assembly.
Its other task was to re-fix the seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies on the basis of the census figures.
The commission became functional in November-December 2002 but was unable to complete the delimitation process due to several factors, including amendment of the Delimitation Act, 2002, and replacing the census of 1991 with 2001 as also the dissolution of 13th Lok Sabha. This led to its term being extended for a three-year term up to July 31, 2007.
The other members of the commission are Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswamy and state election commissioners.