The commission for delimitation of Jammu Kashmir has kicked off the exercise by writing to District Commissioners (DC) of all the twenty districts, Hindu reported.
The commission has sought the demographic, topographic information as well as the local administration’s impressions of political aspirations of their concerned district.
Sources quoted by Hindu revealed that the letter was sent across to all the DCs in the first week of June, and while the commission asked for a response within two days, it was sent off, by all DCs, at the end of the week.
The commission was set up by the Modi-led Government in March 2020 to delineate Assembly and parliamentary constituencies and was later given a year’s extension in March last.
The erstwhile state of Jammu Kashmir was kept out of the delimitation exercise when it was carried out in the rest of the country (between 2002-2008), as the delimitation of Assembly seats was under the Jammu Kashmir Constitution and its separate Representation of People Act.
After the abrogation of Article 370, the delimitation commission was constituted and asked to mark out Assembly and Parliament seats.
The commission is headed by Justice (retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai and comprises of two other members, Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Singh, MP.
The members of Conference leaders Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Hasnain Masoodi, MP, and Mohammad Akbar Lone did not participate in the exercise.