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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | SC stays educational barrier for Haryana panchayat candidates

SC stays educational barrier for Haryana panchayat candidates

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published Published on Sep 18, 2015   modified Modified on Sep 18, 2015
-The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Haryana panchayati raj law stipulating educational qualifications for contesting the forthcoming local polls, which according to the petitioners created an insurmountable barrier for an overwhelming majority of women and Dalits.

After hearing senior advocate Kirti Singh, a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre stayed the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015, which mandated educational qualifications for candidates - Class 10 pass for men, Class 8 pass for women and Class 5 pass for Dalits - to be eligible to contest the grassroots-level elections.

Importantly, the law, which was stayed, had an element of the nationwide sanitation drive started by the Modi government as it mandated that a candidate would be eligible only if she/he had a toilet at her/his residence.

Three women from Fatehabad, Hissar and Jhajjhar had moved the court challenging the law, saying 83.06% of rural women above 20 years of age in the state would be disqualified from contesting panchayat elections as they did not possess the requisite educational qualifications. "Almost 67% of women in urban areas would also be disqualified," they said.

Their writ petition, moved through advocate Pukhrambam Ramesh, said the other disqualifications prescribed by the legislature included non-payment of agricultural loan dues, electricity bills and failure to have a toilet in the house.

The petitioners asked why such qualifications were imposed on persons desirous of contesting panchayat elections when no such qualification is mandated for "a person to become a member of Parliament or legislative assembly, or a Cabinet minister, the prime minister or the President of India".

The petitioners said Haryana had a preponderance of farming families and it was common knowledge that the farm sector was in distress across the country, warranting peasants to sustain agriculture through easy loans made available by governments through rural banks.

They said the provision disqualifying those who had not repaid agricultural loans was meant to keep out a huge section of farmers. "There is no nexus between this classification and the object of the Act, as the default contemplated could arise for any number of reasons that in no way hinders a candidate's ability to discharge his duties," the petitioners said.

Questioning the disqualification provided on account of non-payment of electricity dues, the women said, "In Haryana, 59% of rural households and 80% of Scheduled Caste households earn less than Rs 5,000 per month. Disqualifying those failing to pay arrears of electricity bills amounts to penalizing the impoverished section of the rural population, whose lot has not improved because of failures of state policies."

The Times of India, 18 September, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-stays-educational-barrier-for-Haryana-panchayat-candidates/articleshow/49005784.cms


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