1. Indian Cities are getting Heavily Discriminated. They are NOT Getting their Rightful share of Seats in Lok Sabha. The voice of Educated & Aware urban citizens is getting suppressed. This injustice has been done via 2 methods - a) Seats have been frozen as per 2001 Census. This freeze will stay in effect till 2036. In 2001, only 27.8% of population was in cities. By 2036 almost 50% of Indians will live in Cities. This means that by 2035 the cities will be getting 120 seats Less than what they deserve. b) By forming Lok Sabha seats with small percentage of urban voters and large percentage of rural voters. This problem is so severe that instead of having 150 Lok Sabha seats with majority of Urban voters, there are only 50-60 such seats. 2. Rajya Sabha election method distorts/suppresses the voice of the people. This problem can be overcome by synchronizing Tenure and Election date of Rajya sabha with that of State Vidhan Sabha. Immediately after Vidhan Sabha election of a state, the Tenure of all the Rajya Sabha MPs of that state should expire together. The newly elected MLAs of the state will then elect new Rajya Sabha MPs for all the Rajya Sabha seats allocated to that state.

1. Crucial Policy Reforms Needed to Awaken Indian Democracy
Author : Arish Rajan Contributors : Megha Narkhede & Vinaya

2. Policy Changes Required to Improve the Indian Electoral System
ISSUE 1
Indian Cities are NOT getting their
rightful share of seats in
• Lok Sabha (At National Level)
• Vidhan Sabha (At State Level).
ISSUE 3
Vidhan Sabha Seats created by Mixing
up Urban and Rural areas
ISSUE 5
Today, our Voter Lists contain Large
Number of Bogus Voters
ISSUE 7
In Certain States, Voter ID Card is used
as Sole Proof Document valid for many
important activities – e.g. as Domicile
proof document
ISSUE 2
Lok Sabha Seats created by Mixing up
Urban and Rural areas
ISSUE 4
Failure of Rajya Sabha to Effectively
Represent the State Level
Aspirations/Needs of people.
ISSUE 6
Very Complicated boundaries of
Constituencies
Click on the Light Blue Boxes to see Full Details about each of these 7 Points.
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3. Issue 1 - Indian Cities are NOT Getting their Rightful share of Seats in Lok Sabha
 The Delimitation of Lok Sabha seats was done as per 2001 census and is now frozen.
 At that time India’s Urban population was only 27.8% of total population.
 So, Only around 150 seats were allocated to Urban areas.
 India is rapidly urbanizing. Urban population will become 50 percent of Indian population in 2039.
 After 2039, Urban population will Overtake Rural population in India.
 It will then deserve more than 270 seats instead of current 150 seats.
Too many
people
packed in 1
Urban Seat
Too Few
People in
1 Rural
Seat
 But the next delimitation is scheduled to happen only by 2037-8.
 So, in the time interval, before this Delimitation, the cities are getting heavily discriminated.
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4. Issue 1 - Indian Cities are NOT Getting their Rightful share of Seats in Lok Sabha
The below table shows how unfair the situation is for Indian Cities at National Level (Lok Sabha).
2001
(Census)
2011
(Census)
2021
(Projected)
2031
(Projected)
2039
(Projected)
(A) Percentage of
Population in Cities
27.8% 31.2% 36.0% 43.0% 50.0%
(B) Seats that should be
Allocated to Cities
= 543 *A/100
151 169 195 233 272
Example Scenario:
 In 2035, the Indian Cities will deserve 260+ seats but they would have only 150 seats.
 This is a Huge Gap of 110 seats. It will have a massive impact on the country’s governance.
 This discrepancy of 110 seats will decide who will become the Prime Minister.
 It will have a decisive impact on the type of policies followed by the government.
This problem is further aggravated by the issue covered in Problem 2.
 Lok Sabha seats are being created by mixing 1-2 Urban Vidhan Seats with 4-5 Rural Vidhan sabha seats. Thus the
voice of Urban citizens is overwhelmed by putting a much larger rural population in the same Lok Sabha seat.
 Due to this the Actual number of Urban Lok Sabha seats is Not 150, it is Only around 50 to 60 seats.
 We are not giving our hardest workers, our best and brightest their rightful share of voice in our democracy.
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5. Issue 1 - Indian Cities are NOT Getting their Rightful share of Seats in Vidhan Sabha
 This situation is similar at state level also for Vidhan Sabha seats. The cities do not get their rightful share of seats.
 The case of Pune City in Maharashtra is analyzed in the tables given below.
In the 2014 Maharashtra State Assembly Elections, Pune will get only 11 seats while it deserves 14 seats.
This discrepancy will keep increasing in the future.
Total numbers of Assembly Seats in Maharashtra 288
Total numbers of Assembly Seats for Pune 11
Factors
2011
(Census)
2014
(Projected)
2021
(Projected)
2031
(Projected)
(A) Maharashtra Population
(Growing at 1.6% per year)
112,374,333 117,768,301 130,354,226 148,334,120
(B) Voters per Assembly Seat = A/288 390,189 408,918 452,619 515,049
(C) Pune Population
(Growing at 3.43% per year)
5,049,968 5,570,115 6,782,107 8,514,246
(D) Seats Deserved by Pune = C/B 13 14 15 17
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6. Only the following 3 activities will be performed during the Delimitation –
 Within each state, the Lok Sabha seats should be reorganized to reflect the population data reported in latest
 Vidhan Sabha Seats of each State should be reorganized to reflect the population data reported in latest Census.
 The municipal wards should also be reorganized so that they are in sync with Vidhan Sabha seats. (Currently in Pune;
many Municipal Wards are spread across 2 Vidhan sabha seats. This problem has occurred because Municipal Wards
were not reorganized when Vidhan Sabha seats were reorganized in 2006.)
New Urban Seat
having correct
number of
people
Census.
New Rural Seat
having correct
number of
people
Issue 1 - Suggested Policy Change to Solve this Issue
 In India, the population census is done only once in 10 years.
 In a fast urbanizing country like India, significant changes in population distribution can happen within these 10 years.
 So an even better idea will be to, first estimate the population level 5 years after the census year.
 For example the projected population in 2016 should be calculated by using the 2011 census population data.
 The Lok Sabha and Vidhan Seats should then be created by using the 2016 projected population values.
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 After each Census, i.e. once in 10 years, Delimitation of Electoral Seats must be done.
 As done in the previous Delimitations, the number of Lok Sabha seats given to Each State should be Left Unchanged
 This will ensure that there will not be any resistance to this proposal.
 Before splitting a state into 2 or more new states, the latest population census should be used to ensure that the new
states get the correct number of Lok Sabha seats as per their current population.

7. Issue 2- Lok Sabha Seats created by Mixing up Urban and Rural areas
 Today, we have a very large number of Lok Sabha Seats which are a mix of both Urban and Rural areas.
Mostly they have -
 Small percentage of Urban Voters
 Large percentage of Rural Voters
 Even adjoining Urban areas have been separated and put into separate Lok Sabha seats having mostly Rural voters.
 This problem is so severe that instead of having 150 Lok Sabha seats with majority Urban voters, there are only 50-60
such seats.
 Thus the Voice of Urban Educated Voter has been Suppressed Severely.
Today's Lok Sabha Constituency
A mix of Large Percentage of
Rural Citizens and Small
Percentage of Urban Citizens
 Urban and Rural Citizens have very different needs.
 It is Not Possible for the Elected MP to fulfill the Needs & Aspirations of both these groups of Voters.
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8. Issue 2- Lok Sabha Seats created by Mixing up Urban and Rural areas
Example - Pune City is a very good example of this problem.
 Pune City has 11 Vidhan Sabha seats.
 These 11 seats have been divided in to 4 Lok Sabha Seats.
 Only 1 of these Lok Sabha seats has a majority of Urban Voters.
The below table shows the details –
Lok Sabha Seat Composition
34-Pune 6 Vidhan Sabha seats from Pune City
35-Baramati 1 Vidhan Sabha seats from Pune City
5 Vidhan Sabha seats from Rural Areas
36-Shirur 2 Vidhan Sabha seats from Pune City
4 Vidhan Sabha seats from Rural Areas
33-Maval 2 Vidhan Sabha seats from Pune City
1 Vidhan Sabha seat from Mumbai City
3 Vidhan Sabha seats from Rural Areas
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9. Issue 2 - Suggested Policy Change to Solve this Issue
Ideal Constituency
Only Urban
Assembly seats
have been kept
under this Lok
Sabha seat.
Ideal Constituency
Only Rural
Assembly seats
have been kept
under this Lok
Sabha seat.
The ideal way to organize Lok Sabha seats for Pune City would be to put all its 11 Vidhan Sabha seats into just 2 Lok
Sabha Seats, as shown in the table below -
Lok Sabha Seat Composition
Pune Seat 1 6 MLA seats from Pune City
Pune Seat 2 5 MLA seats from Pune City
1 MLA seats from Rural Areas
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As much as possible, the Election department should look to create Lok Sabha constituencies which contain –
 Either only Urban Vidhan Sabha Seats
 Or only Rural Vidhan Sabha Seats
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10. Issue 3- Putting both Urban and Rural areas under Same Vidhan Sabha Seat
Example: In Khadakwasla Vidhan Sabha seat in Pune –
 1/3rd of the Voters are from Rural area
 2/3rd of the Voters are from Urban area
Guideline Suggested to Reduce this Issue
As much as possible, the Election department should look to create Vidhan Sabha constituencies which contain –
 Either only Urban Areas
 Or only Rural Areas
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11. Issue 4- Failure of Rajya Sabha to Effectively Represent the State Level Aspirations
 238 of 250 members in Rajya Sabha are elected by the Vidhan Sabha member (MLAs) from all the states of India
 The purpose of Rajya Sabha is to represent the State Level Aspirations of people of India
 However most of the time, Rajya Sabha MPs convey a Voice which is Very Different and even Exactly Opposite to the
actual aspirations of the people of that state
The Root Causes for this Problem are –
 Rajya Sabha MPs are Elected at the Wrong Time:
The Appropriate/Logical time to elect Rajya Sabha MP is immediately after State Assembly Elections. At this time MLAs
have fresh Mandate from the people and thus they have the full moral right to elect the Rajya Sabha MP.
 Incorrect Length of Tenure: The Tenure of Rajya Sabha MP should be exactly same as the Tenure of the MLAs electing
them. Once the tenure of MLAs electing him ends, the mandate received by the Rajya MP from the people has also
morally ended.
Solution
 We should correct both these Root Causes to solve this problem.
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12. Issue 4- Example: Rajya Sabha fails to Represent the State Level Aspirations
 Elections are held in a state ZZZ in Nov, 2009. Party A wins a majority.
 In Jan 2014, 1/3rd of the Rajya Sabha MPs for the state ZZZ are elected. Their term will run till Jan, 2020.
The presence of majority Party A MLAs ensures that Rajya Sabha MPs are also from Party A.
 In May 2014, Lok Sabha elections are held.
Party B wins a big majority on the basis of a manifesto with entirely different policies.
 In Nov, 2014 Vidhan Sabha election are also held again. Party A is wiped out due to disappointment in the public over
their performance. Party B wins a big majority on the basis of a manifesto with entirely different policies.
 The Rajya Sabha MPs elected earlier in Jan, 2014 are from Party A and support the old policies. They are completely out
of sync with the aspirations of people of state ZZZ in 2014.
 These Rajya Sabha MPS have a tenure of 2014-20. They constantly oppose the Government of Party B at national
Level.
Throughout the Lok sabha tenure of Party B (2014-19), they have to face constantly hurdles from these Rajya Sabha
MPs of Party A.
 This type of situation has a serious impact on the governance of the country. It slows down progress and prosperity in
the country.
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13. Issue 5- Today, our Voter Lists contain Large Number of Bogus Voters
 Today on an average, 10-15% of names in Voter List of a Constituency are of people who do NOT live in that area
 The average Victory Margin in a Lok Sabha constituency is Only 5-6% of eligible voters in that area.
 Thus we can see that, such a Huge Proportion of Bogus Voters in Voter List can Completely Distort Election Results.
Example: During 2014 Lok Sabha Elections in Pune, there were reports that more than 1 lakh names from Sangli
constituency were repeated in Voter List of Pune constituency also.
Suggested Policy to tackle this Issue
 Government should utilize Information Technology to tackle this issue.
 A Comparison Check should be run on the Voter List database once every year.
 In this check All Duplicate entries will get identified; i.e. cases having same value in fields like - name, age, father's
name etc. Today we can do such a comparison check on a database in just a few minutes.
 The election department should then Investigate (conduct Inspections) for all such cases identified by the
Comparison check. If it is a duplicate entry (bogus voter) then it should be deleted from the voter list.
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14. Issue 6- In Certain States Only Voter ID Card is Valid as a Domicile Proof document
 Domicile Proof Document is often required for several important activities in certain states. For example –
 Buying Land or House
 Getting a Cooking Gas Connection
 People move to distant cities for work. It is practically NOT possible for them to Go to their Native place to Vote.
 They Do NOT transfer their Voter registration to their new place of residence even after living there for many years.
 The Reason is that they are Afraid to lose Domicile status in Native state where they own property.
 Crores of Indians have Lost their Right to Vote due to such policy.
Suggested Policy Change to Solve this Issue
 The Voter ID Card should be used Primarily only for the purpose of Voting
 States should NOT be allowed to use it as a Sole document for any important activity – e.g. as Domicile Proof
Document.
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15. Issue 7- Constituencies have Very Complicated Boundaries
 Boundaries of Constituencies have been made Unnecessarily Complicated.
 Even election department employees struggle to remember the boundaries. Only 1-2 senior staff members are aware
of the boundaries. This becomes a huge bottle neck while processing the Voter Registration Application forms.
 Due to complicated boundaries, thousands/lakhs of citizens are not able to correctly identify their constituency. So,
thousands of Applications forms are rejected for having wrong constituency name written in it.
 Some of the reasons for this complication are -
 Marking boundaries along Small, Short, Insignificant roads. This creates complicated zig zag pattern boundaries.
 Marking boundaries along open fields/scrublands even in City areas. There is no landmark in such areas to
identify the boundary
Suggested Policy to tackle this Issue
 As much as possible, the Election department should look to have simple long straight boundaries along a Major
Road or River.
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