South states' family planning success should not reduce their representation in Parliament: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday asked whether the long-delayed census would be used for allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha and said the success of South Indian states in family planning should not end up reducing their political representation in Parliament.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the South Indian states should not be be penalised for their success in family planning and suitable formulae should be worked out to ensure that this does not happen.

He said South Indian states were pioneers in family planning. First to reach replacement levels of fertility was Kerala in 1988, followed by Tamil Nadu in 1993, Andhra Pradesh in 2001 and Karnataka in 2005, he pointed out.

However, there have been concerns voiced for quite some time now that these successes could end up reducing the political representation of these states in Parliament, Ramesh said.

"That is why in 2001 the Vajpayee Govt amended the Constitution (Article 82) to make the readjustments in the Lok Sabha dependent on the publication of the first census taken after the year 2026," he said.

Normally, the first census after 2026 would have meant the census of 2031, he said. But the entire decennial census schedule has been disrupted and even the census scheduled for 2021 has not been conducted, he noted.

"We now keep hearing that the long-delayed census will start soon. Will this be used for allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha? There can be no doubt that success should not be penalised," Ramesh said.

Suitable formulae can be worked out to ensure that this does not happen, he added.