Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said that elections of Panchayati Raj Institutions will be conducted soon and reservation will be given to the Backward Classes (A) for the first time in these elections.
Now if there is even 2 percent of the backward class (A) population in a village, then at least 1 Panchayat member will definitely be elected, he said while addressing a press conference after cabinet meeting.
Khttar said that recently the Supreme Court has given directions regarding political reservation in Panchayati Raj Institutions to Backward Classes-A. Haryana Government had constituted the Backward Classes Commission to give reservation to Backward Class-A in this regard and the commission submitted a report based upon a sample survey. The Haryana cabinet approved this report and amended the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 by bringing in the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022. As many as 78 groups fall in the backward classes category, with over 70 of them falling in the Block-A or BC (A) sub-category. For the purpose of reservation, the population of backward classes sub-category will be drawn from the family data repository established under the provisions of The Haryana Parivar Pehchan Act, 2021.
The Chief Minister said that after the approval of the Governor, the process related to this reservation will be completed in the next few days. After this, a letter will be written to the Election Commission to conduct the elections.