Amendment To The Delimitation Act, 2002 And The Representation Of The People Act, 1950

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval to amend section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950
• It will enable Election Commission to carry out limited delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary Constituency(cies) in the Cooch Behar District of West Bengal consequent upon the exchange of 51 Bangladeshi enclaves and 111 Indian enclaves respectively between India and Bangladesh, with effect from 31st July, 2015.
• This is in pursuance of the Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 and also allows for introduction of a Bill, namely, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament.
• In a historic pact between India and Bangladesh, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (Chhitmahals) in Indian Territory and 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh territory were exchanged with effect from 31st July, 2015.
• The move altered the geography and demography of the district of Cooch Behar in West Bengal. With a view to carry out consequential geographic and demographic alterations vis-à-vis the electoral mosaic of the affected areas, the Election Commission requested to amend section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 to enable it to carry out limited delimitation of constituencies in the affected areas.
• Since the newly acquired area consequent upon the exchange of territory between India and Bangladesh has become the part of the Indian territory, it is required to make delimitation exercise within the limited constituency area before the ensuing State Assembly elections in West Bengal. Accordingly, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has been proposed for enactment.

About Land boundary agreement:

• India and Bangladesh have a 4096.7 km long land boundary. The boundary (with erstwhile East Pakistan) was determined by the Radcliffe Award of 1947. Disputes arose out of provisions of the award.
• The Nehru-Noon Agreement of 1958 and the Agreement Concerning the Demarcation of the Land Boundary between India and Bangladesh and Related Matters of 1974 sought to find a solution to the complex nature of the border demarcation involved. However, three outstanding issues pertaining to an undemarcated land boundary of approximately 6.1 km in three sectors: Daikhata-56(West Bengal), Muhuri River-Belonia (Tripura) and Lathitila-Dumabari (Assam), exchange of enclaves and adverse possessions remained unsettled.
• The 2011 Protocol, signed during the then PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh, will result in a fixed demarcated boundary in all the un-demarcated segments, exchange of 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh with 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India and a resolution of all adversely possessed areas.
• In September 2011, Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh signed an accord under which both the countries agreed to exchange the enclaves they hold.
• But any exchange of land with a foreign country requires a Constitutional amendment.
• The 119th Constitutional Amendment Bill thus is an amendment to the constitution that seeks to give effect to the Land Boundary Accord signed with Bangladesh.
• An exchange of enclaves will free the people living in such enclaves from the trap that they had been living in for so long. Their village/taluka will now be recognized as a part of the country where it geographically belongs and they will have access to all the services available to the other citizens of the country.
   

By: Vishal