Need of Reservation of Constituencies

In the FPTP election system, the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins. However, this can disadvantage smaller social groups, leading to unequal representation.

India has a history of caste-based discrimination, and in the FPTP system, dominant social groups often win, leaving oppressed groups unrepresented.

Reserved Constituencies:

Reserved constituencies address this issue. In these constituencies, candidates must belong to a specific community or social group for which the seat is reserved.

These reservations ensure proper representation for social groups that may not have enough influence to win in regular constituencies.

The Constitution provides for reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Initially set for 10 years, this provision has been extended until 2030 through constitutional amendments.

The number of reserved seats is proportional to the population of these groups. Currently, out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, 84 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 47 for Scheduled Tribes.

Process to determine reserved constituencies:

The Delimitation Commission, appointed by the President of India in collaboration with the Election Commission of India, is responsible for deciding reserved constituencies.

Its purpose is to draw boundaries for constituencies across the country and fix a quota of reserved constituencies in each State based on the proportion of Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST) in that State.

After determining boundaries, the Commission considers population composition in each constituency. For ST constituencies, those with the highest ST population proportion are reserved.

For SC constituencies, the Commission selects areas with a higher SC population and spreads them across different regions of the State since SC population is evenly distributed.

These reserved constituencies may change with each Delimitation exercise. However, the Constitution does not provide similar reservations for other disadvantaged groups.

FPTP System Class 11 Notes: Achieving success in CBSE exams requires a clear understanding of Political Science concepts. Thus, Class 11 students must obtain well-structured Political Science Class 11 Notes from experienced teachers. These notes are designed to help students understand the fundamental concepts of Political Science and build a strong foundation for their future studies.

Our Class 11 Political Science Note is based on the NCERT Pattern and the latest syllabus. Take the help of our chapter-wise CBSE class 11th Political Science notes to ace the CBSE class 11 exam.

In this article, we’ll learn about why India chose the First-past-the-post (FPTP) system for its elections and how it has worked for the country.