Census of India — Policy Changes

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
42nd Amendment Act	1976	This amendment froze the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies based on the 1971 Census population figures. The intention was to encourage states to adopt family planning measures without being penalized by a reduction in their political representation due to lower population growth.	Significantly impacted the process of delimitation, ensuring that the political representation remained stable for a period, irrespective of differential population growth rates among states. This decision underscored the political sensitivity and implications of census data beyond mere statistics.
84th Amendment Act	2001	This amendment extended the freeze on the number of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly seats, based on the 1971 Census, for another 25 years, i.e., until the year 2026. It also allowed for readjustment and rationalization of territorial constituencies within a state based on the 1991 Census figures, without altering the total number of seats allocated to the state.	Further solidified the political implications of census data by deferring a full-scale delimitation based on more recent population figures. This means that the political map of India, in terms of seat allocation, will remain largely unchanged until after the 2026 deadline, when the data from the next completed census (likely 2021 or later) will become the basis for a major redrawing of constituencies.

Also build Paper II skills

Regional comparisons and process chains train the same coherence and inference habits CSAT passages demand. CSAT hub.

• Data interpretation
• Estimation techniques
• Logical deductions