Will long-delayed census be used for allocation of seats in Lok Sabha? asks Cong

The Congress on Monday asked whether the longdelayed census would be used for the 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 reported news agency PTICongress general secretary incharge communications Jairam Ramesh said the South Indian states should not be penalised for their success in family planning and suitable formulae should be worked out to ensure that this does not happen reported PTIHe said South Indian states were pioneers in family planning The 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 reported PTIHowever 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 saidThat is why in 2001 the Vajpayee Government 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 reported PTINormally 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 notedWe now keep hearing that the longdelayed census will start soon Will this be used for the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha There can be no doubt that success should not be penalised Ramesh said reported PTISuitable formulae can be worked out to ensure that this does not happen he addedDespicable act of targeted violence wont deter India from building infra projects in JK CongressThe Congress on Monday condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Ganderbal and said this inhumane and despicable act of targeted violence will not deter India from building key infrastructure projects in Jammu and KashmirA doctor and six labourers were killed when terrorists struck a tunnelconstruction site on the SrinagarLeh national highway in Jammu and Kashmirs Ganderbal district on Sunday officials said reported PTIThe unidentified terrorists carried out the attack when the labourers and other staff working on the tunnel project at Gund in Ganderbal had returned to their camp late in the evening the officials said reported PTIIn a post on X Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said We strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Ganderbal where several construction workers and a doctor have been killedThis inhumane and despicable act of targeted violence shall not deter India from building key infrastructure projects in Jammu and Kashmir As a nation we are together in our fight against terrorism Kharge saidOur heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims We wish the injured a speedy recovery he addedWith inputs from PTI