Delimitation: ST seats should be distributed equally among Jammu, Kashmir, says Ghulam Nabi Azad

Reacting to the recommendation made by the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that seats reserved for Scheduled Caste should be distributed equally between Jammu and Kashmir.

"It's fine that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes communities are getting seats (in the J&K Delimitation Commission), but seats for STs should've been divided in both Jammu and Kashmir, as the ST population is almost equal," said Azad.

The Commission, headed by Justice (retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, held its second meeting in New Delhi on Monday.

"For the first time in Jammu and Kashmir, a total of nine seats are proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Tribes out of 90 seats on the basis of population and seven seats are proposed for Scheduled Castes," the Commission said in a press release.

It explained the criteria used for forming the draft recommendations of allocating additional assembly seats to Jammu and Kashmir and said that it categorized all 20 districts into three broad categories on the basis of the average population.

"The Commission explained that taking all these into account, it has categorized all 20 districts in three broad categories A, B and C giving a margin of 10 per cent of average population per Assembly Constituency (AC) while proposing an allocation of the constituencies to the districts," the press release said.

The release said that the Commission has also, for some districts, proposed carving out of an additional constituency to balance the representation for geographical areas having inadequate communication and lack of public conveniences due to their inhospitable conditions on the international border.

The commission has recommended increasing the assembly seats in the Jammu region by six to 43 and in Kashmir region from 46 to 47.

While BJP said the proposals have been made after due diligence, National Conference termed them "unacceptable".

The Commission shared Paper I describing the proposed seat allocation at the level of districts with all the members. They have been requested their views or suggestions by December 31, 2021.

( With inputs from ANI )

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