GUWAHATI: President of India on Friday cleared the decks for resumption of the delimitation exercise to redraw the boundaries of assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam , which was put on hold in 2008 after situation in the state was reported to be not conducive because there was serious threat to the peace and public order.The ministry of law and justice issued an order on Friday and confirmed that “there is a significant improvement in the security situation in the state of Assam.”“There is also reduction in insurgency incidents and improvement in law and order making the situation conducive for carrying out the delimitation exercise which was deferred in the state in the year 2008. Therefore, it appears that the circumstances that led to the deferring of the delimitation exercise in the State of Assam have ceased to exist and that the delimitation of the constituencies as envisaged under the Delimitation Act, 2002 could be carried out now,” the order stated.The ministry also stated that “the President, being satisfied that the circumstances that led to the deferring of the delimitation exercise in the State of Assam have ceased to exist” has withdrew the notification of 2008 deferring the exercise in the state.Currently there are 126 assembly constituencies in the state and the number is unlikely to be increased by the delimitation. An official source added that the centre plans to complete the process before the assembly election scheduled to be held early next year.The delimitation of Assam’s assembly constituencies is long overdue. The delimitation commission set up in 2002 to readjust the division of assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies on the basis of census figures of 2001. It completed the delimitation exercise in 25 states and union territories but the work was suspended in Assam following stay orders of the Guwahati High Court in a PIL challenging the validity of the 2001 census report in 2007.The Commission succeeded in getting the stay vacated from the Supreme Court but the process could not be resumed. Then Congress government in the state also objected to the delimitation process saying that the delimitation without addressing the grievances of public leaders, people and the indigenous communities, is likely to cause major law and order problems in the state and asked the centre to keep the process in abeyance.An all-party meeting of Assam Legislative Assembly on May 11, 2007, submitted representations to the commission that the delimitation exercise be postponed till such time as the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is updated “to reflect the true population configuration in the state.”