CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Assembly on Friday passed a Bill which provides the right to recall members of panchayati raj institutions to those who elected them and gives women 50 per cent reservation in these rural bodies.
The Bill also proposed eight per cent reservation to the "more disadvantaged" among the Backward Classes.
The Bill allows the recall of village sarpanches and members of the block-level panchayat samitis and district-level zila parishads if they fail to perform.
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala tabled the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the House on the concluding day of the Vidhan Sabha session.
With the enactment of the Bill, people in rural areas will get the right to remove a sarpanch or members of the two bodies even before their tenure is over.
According to a statement of objectives, the amendment is aimed at increasing their accountability to the electorate.
"The intent of the provision is to enhance democratic accountability of the governing in Panchayati Raj Institutions towards the governed," it said.
Chautala said the right to recall is a "historic" decision.
He said to recall a sarpanch and members of the two bodies, 50 per cent members of a ward or gram sabha have to give in writing that they want to initiate proceedings.
This will be followed by a secret ballot, in which their recall will require two-third members of a gram sabha or ward voting against them.
The Bill is also aimed at enhancing participation of women in the three-tier panchayati raj system and allows 50 per cent reservation to them in gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads, according to the statement said.
The Bill also allows reservation to the Backward Classes Category (A), the "more disadvantaged" among the group.