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The next panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh are likely to see radical changes as the state government is likely to introduce two major changes in the relevant law — minimum educational qualification and two-child norm — for the potential candidates of the three tier panchayat bodies.
Union Minister of State Sanjeev Balyan last month had raised the demand for banning people having more than two children from contesting the panchayat elections .
At present, the grounds for disqualification from contesting the panchayat elections are failure to pay arrears to primary agriculture cooperative society, district cooperative banks or default in payment of electricity bill.
Official sources said the matter was under the active consideration of the state government and may soon be placed before the cabinet for bringing changes in the eligibility rules for contesting panchayat polls.
The government may impose restrictions on candidates having more than two children for contesting the three-tier panchayat polls. Along with this, there could be a minimum educational qualification for candidates who want to contest these polls.
The authorities have also suggested that educational qualification for women and reserved category in gram panchayat elections could be up to Class 8, and intermediate for other candidates contesting the election of district panchayat member.
Many states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have already passed legislation on this issue, including minimum educational qualification and two-child norm among the eligibility conditions. The Uttarakhand government had also passed a legislation on two-child norm. It was, however, stayed by the Nainital High Court.
The legislation for minimum qualification in the three-tier polls by different states was challenged in Supreme Court and the apex court upheld their constitutional validity.
According to sources, the UP government has granted in principal approval to high school pass as minimum educational qualification criterion for women and reserved category in zila panchayat and local panchayat. The Yogi Adityanath government may bring a proposal in the cabinet meeting for amendment of the UP Panchayati Raj Act soon.
Though there is no official word whether the panchayat elections due in December this year will be postponed, it is almost certain that these polls will be held six months later due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The opposition parties have decried the move as conspiracy of the government to deprive the disadvantaged class from their representation in the three tier elected bodies.
“The government move is unconstitutional, legally untenable and arbitrary as it will deprive the Dalits and other economically and educationally disadvantaged sections of society from contesting the panchayat elections,” said Samajwadi party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary.
Congress leader Surendra Rajput said the proposed law was against the basic spirit of the amendment to the Constitution for empowering the panchayat institutions. He, however, said `` the Congress supported the legal measures for curbing population growth but amendment to the panchayat law was not the right way to achieve the goal of population control.