Explanation:

The Delimitation Commission, set up to redraw the Assembly seats of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has proposed six additional seats for the Jammu region and one for Kashmir Valley in its `Paper 1` discussed with its five associate members recently.

Nine seats have been proposed for STs and seven for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the first time that seats have been proposed for STs in Jammu and Kashmir.

Delimitation is defined as “the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.”

In the Indian context, it means the process of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in the population. Only after this is done an election can be conducted.

The Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act under Article 82 of the Constitution and an independent high-powered panel known as the Delimitation Commission is constituted to carry out the exercise.

The state was kept out of the delimitation exercise when it was carried out in the rest of the country in 2002-2008.

Following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir lost its special status and became a Union Territory.

A delimitation commission was constituted and asked to carve out Assembly and Parliament seats.

The completion of the delimitation exercise in the Valley means restart of the political process, paving way for elections to be held in the Union Territory which has been under Centre`s rule since June 2018.