Commission to be set up for delimitation of wards, quota

Chennai: The state government has decided to constitute a Delimitation Commission to make recommendations for carrying out delimitation of wards in every local body with respect to the population ascertained in the 2011 census and also suggest reservation for women, SC and ST candidates.

The Commission will, among other things, fix the total number of members to be elected to every local body on the basis of population as ascertained in the 2011 census, recommend dividing the area of every local body into as many wards as the number of members required to be elected to that local body on the basis of population and recommend to determine the boundaries of the wards.

Introducing a bill to provide for the constitution of Delimitation Commission for delimitation of territorial wards of village panchayats, panchayat unions, district panchayats, town panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations, in the Assembly on Monday, Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani said the Commission would also recommend to determine the territorial wards or wards in which the seats are reserved for SC, ST and women in every local body. The TN Delimitation Commission Bill, 2017, was introduced amid opposition by DMK members.

Once the Bill is passed and the Act enforced, the panel shall make recommendations for fixing the total number of members to be elected to every local body on the basis of population as per the last census.

The State Election Commissioner will be the chairman while the Director of rural development and Panchayat Raj, Commissioner of Municipal Administration, Director of town panchayats and Commissioner of Chennai Corporation will be the ex-officio members. The secretary of State Election Commission will be the member secretary of the Delimitation Commission.