Role of Local Bodies in Strengthening Grassroots Democracy during the Delimitation Exercise

*Published December 23, 2024 | This is a working paper presented at the Takshashila Institution Internal Conference on ‘Understanding the Delimitation Exercise’, November 2024.*

Executive Summary

Delimitation, the process of re-establishing electoral constituency boundaries based on population, is a fraught business in Indian democracy. On the one hand, delimitation is crucial for ensuring equitable representation in legislative bodies. By dividing the voting population into constituencies of relatively equal size, the principle of "one person, one vote, one value" is upheld, ensuring that each citizen's vote holds equal weight. On the other hand, since the establishment of the Indian Republic, the delimitation exercise has faced a series of postponements for various reasons—from incentivising family planning programs to addressing fiscal imbalances it could create in Indian federalism. This paper argues that delimitation is a crucial process in Indian democracy and that the challenges or debates that emerge during this process are a set of challenges that exist more broadly. Delimitation creates an opportunity window to address these challenges. What are the potential solutions to these challenges? By fostering well-functioning local governments, the tensions arising from population-based delimitation can be addressed more effectively. When local bodies have greater autonomy and control over their resources, they are less likely to depend on the central government or engage in zero-sum competition with other states.

I. Introduction

Delimitation is the process of establishing boundaries for electoral constituencies. This involves determining the number of seats allocated to a state in the national legislature (apportionment) and defining the geographic boundaries for each constituency within a state.

The success of a delimitation exercise depends on whether it can ensure

citizens, irrespective of their place of birth, have an equal (more or less) say in electing their representatives,
the shifting demographics are accounted for in political representation,
the legislatures are composed in a way that reflects the will of the people.

Since the delimitation pause would end by 2026, it would open Pandora's box of democratic challenges for India's policymakers due to the 50-year freeze. There is a difference between the votes of individuals from highly populous and less populous states. That means an individual's vote in less populous states is higher than that of more populated states. Delimitation exercise would try to address this problem to an extent. However, southern states pay a higher economic contribution to India's purse than northern states due to their prosperity. Considering the increased population in Northern states in the last few decades, Northern India would have more political representation in New Delhi than Southern states, while the latter would continue to support the former economically if a delimitation exercise is undertaken. Irrespective of the method of delimitation, India has to bring some parity in the 'one vote, one value' principle, bring economic prosperity to northern states or incentivise the northern states to economically prosper and address fiscal-political concerns of the Southern states during the delimitation process.

This paper examines the scope of local bodies (urban and rural) in addressing some of the challenges during the delimitation process, especially the imbalance in the federal structure. This paper argues that empowering local bodies financially and administratively can enhance their ability to provide public services and implement development programs tailored to the specific needs of their communities.

First, the paper will examine the challenges and democratic discourses that will emerge during the delimitation process and then discuss how empowered urban/rural local governments can address each of these challenges.

II. Understanding the Delimitation in India: Challenges and Debates

Article 82 of the Indian constitution stipulates that after each decennial census, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to states and the division of each state into territorial constituencies need to be readjusted. Various political considerations have led to the current situation where constituencies haven't been redrawn in decades. The anticipated delimitation exercise, scheduled after the 2026 census, is expected to re-open the democratic discourse on population growth vs economic growth, fiscal imbalances between the states and the complexities of Indian federalism. These challenges or debates, however, are part of broader democratic challenges in India, and the delimitation process merely brings these issues into sharper focus.

The challenges/debates that emerge during the delimitation process are of three types: challenges towards India’s federal structure, challenges that could exacerbate the imbalances in the fiscal transfer from the union to the states and challenges due to malapportionment.

The history of the delimitation freeze begins with the 42nd Amendment in 1976, which effectively paused the reallocation of seats based on the 1971 census until 2001. The drive behind this freeze was mainly due to the discourse on 'family planning programmes' at a time when the state actively intervened in controlling the population growth. This freeze had helped the southern states, who claimed they effectively 'controlled' the population growth compared to other states, that they feared they would lose their representation in the parliament if the reapportionment happened. This postponement was further extended to 2026 through the 84th Amendment in 2002. The rationale for this extension was again to incentivise states to continue pursuing population stabilisation measures.

In the last 50 years, since the last delimitation exercise, the population growth rates have varied significantly across different regions. Northern states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, have experienced higher population growth compared to southern states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. Consequently, the exercise is projected to increase the representation of northern states in the Lok Sabha, while Southern states could potentially face a reduction. This debate about population is a reflection of the broader democratic fear of losing power in an increasingly centralised system. This could potentially lead to a further concentration of power at the Centre and weaken the voice of southern states (who are also comparatively richer states) in national politics. These concerns could exacerbate the asymmetries in India’s federal system, such as the increasing concentration of power at the Centre and the diminishing influence of regional parties in national politics.

A more empowered local governance system, both administratively and fiscally, can help mitigate some of these challenges. Local bodies can serve as a counterbalance to centralised authority by addressing regional and constituency-specific needs more effectively.

Another dimension of this fear stems from the potential shift in political representation caused by the delimitation exercise, which could result in significant repercussions on financial transfers between the Union and the states. Comparatively, richer states (often the less populous states) contributed more to the central revenue pool, while the distribution was mainly based on needs, and they received less than they contributed. This means richer states subsidise larger poor states, while higher populous states benefit fiscally from their larger representation. The 15th Finance Commission, for instance, has reduced the share of southern states in Union taxes while slightly increasing the share for the Hindi Belt. They fear that the higher populous states would benefit from increased representation and receive a larger share of the national revenue pool. It creates a complex problem in that fiscal transfers do not consider economic performance. Hence, the policymakers are not incentivised to improve the economic performance in their states. Instead of improving economic performance, they might be more incentivised to engage in vote politics of freebies and subsidies than the long-term economic growth and social development of their constituencies.

On the other hand, the allocation of resources to the states is based on the 1971 census. Hence, the differences in the population's resource demand are not reflected in revenue sharing. Delayed delimitation has created various governance challenges in malapportioned Indian states. Since the delimitation exercise has been postponed for the last five decades, there is a significant population disparity between constituencies within and across the states. This has resulted in an unequal representation, where one member of parliament represents a vastly different number than others (For example, in Bihar, one MP represents approximately 3.1 million people, while in Kerala, it stands at around 1.75 million).

The underrepresented states have been denied the "one vote, one value principle" of India's democratism for the last 50 years. This could also be cited as one of the reasons for poor governance, poverty and other developmental challenges in those constituencies/regions, as larger constituencies lead to poor governance. Although delimitation will address the unequal representation, the postponement of the exercise for the last 50 years would continue to impact the economic growth of the malapportioned states.

To address these systemic democratic challenges, empowering local bodies—both administratively and fiscally—becomes crucial. With more resources and autonomy, local governments can directly address developmental disparities, mitigate governance issues in larger constituencies, and better balance economic and social growth with the demands of a growing population.

III. Role of Local Governments during the Delimitation Exercise

This session will discuss how an empowered (administratively and fiscally) local government body in India can address the concerns discussed in the previous session. While this paper acknowledges the existing fiscal, administrative, and political economy challenges that handicap local governance at present, the scope of this paper is limited to envisioning an empowered local government system that could potentially address the concerns during the delimitation process.

*Table 1. Table representing the game theory framework to analyse the role of local bodies in addressing delimitation challenges*

*Box 1. Representing the potential outcomes as per the game theory framework*

The decentralised form of government is one of the popular forms of governance because local governments hold more detailed information on their citizens' preferences and local needs than any other higher level of government. The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1992 gave the local bodies a constitutional status with specific functions assigned to them under the 11th and 12th schedules. The vital task assigned to the local governments is to deliver 'economic development and social justice' (Article 243G and 243W). The success of this task depends on the quality of fiscal decentralisation. Fiscal decentralisation is the transfer of fiscal responsibilities, such as taxation, spending, and regulatory functions, from the central government to lower levels of government, like state and local bodies. India's complex system of fiscal decentralisation exhibits a centralised tilt, with a significant vertical imbalance between the expenditure responsibilities and revenue-raising powers of the state governments. Local governments, which play a critical role in delivering basic services like education, healthcare and sanitation, have limited access to their source revenues. They heavily depend on state and central government transfers to fund their expenditures.

In an ideal federation, the responsibilities for economic activities, policy, resource mobilisation, transfer and so on are divided among multiple levels of government, ostensibly to enhance efficiency and improve the quality of the delivery of public services, along with the transfer of fiscal resources to undertake these activities. Local governments should have the fiscal capacity to provide comparable levels of public services so that no citizen should suffer deprivation due to their choice of residential location. Equal fiscal distribution and fiscal capacity across states could address many disparities in their ability to provide public services and enhance democracy.

While local governments' role is nonexistent in the delimitation process, their effectiveness in delivering services and promoting local governments can help address the underlying socio-economic factors in economic development. Empowered local bodies could mitigate some of the concerns that emerge during delimitation by fostering a more inclusive and participatory system of governance. An enhanced participatory system at a regional level addresses the perception of political disenfranchisement that may arise during delimitation.

A clear delineation of functions and activities between different levels of government is required. This mapping should be based on principles like economies of scale, externalities, equity, and accountability to ensure efficient service delivery. Local governments, being closer to the people, are often better positioned to understand and respond to local needs and preferences. Empowering them with clearly defined responsibilities can enhance their effectiveness in addressing regional development challenges.

By addressing local inequalities and promoting inclusive development, local governments can contribute to reducing the social and economic disparities that can lead to political marginalisation. Robust local governance can foster a sense of ownership and participation among citizens, empowering them to engage in local decision-making processes. This can help address the sense of disenfranchisement that can arise from unequal representation. By strengthening local democracy, local governments can create a more responsive and accountable system of governance, ensuring that local voices are heard and local needs are met.

Hence, any delimitation process should be part of a larger federal system between the centre, states, and local governments. It should negotiate and address taxes, fiscal allocations, and representative concerns. Empowered local governments can address most of these challenges that a delimitation exercise would pose.

IV. Policy Recommendations

Fiscal Decentralisation: Increasing states' share in the divisible pool of central taxes and granting them greater autonomy in setting tax rates can enhance their fiscal space and reduce their dependence on central transfers.
Increase the revenue capacity of urban/local bodies. Consider options like user fees for services provided by the local governments. Local governments must consider various revenue augmentation methods to reduce their dependence on central-state governments.
A clear and comprehensive activity mapping of functions across different levels of government can reduce overlaps, enhance accountability, and improve service delivery. There should also be a local government list along with the union list, state list, and concurrent list.
Efforts are required to strengthen participatory governance at the local level. If the elections are not delayed, citizens will be incentivised to participate in local governance, and local governments will be given administrative autonomy to carry out their activities.
Local governments need a bottom-to-top approach in planning their public delivery to address the unique needs of each administrative unit.