CHANDIGARH: After fixing mandatory educational qualification for sarpanches and panches, the Haryana government on Thursday announced 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayat polls.
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala who also holds the Panchayat and Development portfolio said here that a bill in this regard to amend the Panchayati Raj Act would be brought in the forthcoming monsoon session of the Haryana assembly. The proposal to amend the act would first be placed before the state cabinet for approval soon.
He said that 50 per cent quota for women was part of the common minimum programme (CMP) of the BJP-JJP government.
Sources said that 42 per cent women had won in the 2016 panchayat polls when 33 per cent seats were reserved for them. Out of the 6,183 sarpanches elected in the state in the 2016 polls, as many as 662 have studied till graduation or above and of them 252 were women sarpanches who were graduates.
Women who have passed Class VIII and men who have passed Class X can fight these polls in the general category. For scheduled caste reserved seats, women who have passed Class V and men who passed Class VIII can contest.