(1)(a) Subject to the provisions of clause (2) and of articles 82 and 331, the House of the People shall consist of not more than five hundred members directly elected by the voters in the States.
[2] The full text of the Statement of Objects and Reasons appended to the bill is given below: Article 81(1)(a) prescribes an absolute limit of 500 elected members in the House of the People.
The present delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies is based on the estimates of population which have been given legal validity by an order of the President under article 387 of the Constitution.
Article 81(3) of the Constitution, however, requires that upon the completion of each census, the representation of the several territorial constituencies in the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies of each State shall be re-adjusted by such authority, in such manner and with effect from such date as Parliament may by law determine.
Provision has been made in that Bill for the setting up of a Delimitation Commission for the purpose of effecting re-adjustment of the representation in the House of the People and in the State Legislative Assemblies on the basis of the population as ascertained at the census of 1951.
The census figures are higher in all cases, and in view of the overall limit of 500 members prescribed in article 81(1) (a), it is not possible to increase appreciably the total number of seats allotted to these States.
A motion to refer the bill to a Select Committee of the House was moved and adopted on 11 November 1952.