True the new ordinance doesn't guarantee corruption-free panchayats but it at least ensures that the people’s representatives are able to read and understand the documents they sign. But if the Government fails to ensure equal opportunities and access to education and financial assistance to build toilets and other facilities, power would be concentrated with the rich educated people rather than the rich uneducated ones. No real change would be possible
The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the validity of the Haryana law which bars the illiterate from contesting panchayat polls has given birth to controversies. While some feels that the decision will cause a major setback to the country’s efforts to build an inclusive democracy and maximise the participation of the people in local governance, others opine that it is an extremely positive move to improve the efficiency of the panchayat.
In an interview to a national daily, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said it is our objective that people should be educated and should have toilets in their homes but that does not mean that people deprived of it should not have the power to exercise their political right. He added that this is also against the whole theory of political incentive, because people who don’t get education and have toilets, have reason to agitate for it and to remove them from body politic is to remove forces demanding this change.
Sen’s comment addresses some relevant issues: What exactly the law saysIJ Is the law justifiedIJ Or is it a measure to repress the subalterns, as alleged by some criticsIJ Are there any other specific eligibility criteria that other States followIJ
What exactly the law saysIJ
The Haryana Government decided to amend the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 1994 to accommodate the following new rules:
The minimum academic qualification for contesting polls of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) will be matriculation.
Women and Schedule Caste candidates will be given a relaxation. The minimum requirement for women will be Class VIII and for Dalits Class V.
Every contestant also needs to file a self-certified statement that there is a functional toilet at his/her residence.
Contestants also need to clear their outstanding dues of domestic electricity bills and repay the agricultural loan before contesting.
These apart, candidates with criminal charges punishable with more than 10 years of imprisonment, and cooperative loan defaulters will be barred from contesting.
Is the decision justifiedIJ
The decision of the Haryana Government compels us to consider some important issues — education and sanitation being the foremost. Before analysing the decision, let us reassess the powers and functions of a gram panchayat.
The Panchayati Raj Act specifies the functions, powers and duties of the gram panchayats. To list a few:
1. Sanitation, conservancy and drainage and the prevention of public nuisances,
2. Supply of drinking water and disinfecting the sources of supply and storage of water,
3. The removal of encroachments of public streets or public places,
4. The control and administration of the Gram Panchayat Fund,
5. The imposition, assessment and collection of the taxes, rates or fees,
6. Administration of Nyay Panchayat, etc.
Apart from these there are other functions assigned by the State Government such as:
1) Inspecting primary, social, technical, vocational, adult or non-formal education centres;
2) Rural dispensaries, health centres, maternity and child welfare centres;
3) Bringing wasteland under cultivation through land improvement and soil conservation;
4) Assisting the implementation of land reform measures;
5) Rural housing programmes;
6) Rural electrification;
7) Women and child development;
8) Implementation of such other schemes as entrusted to the gram panchayats by the Government, etc.
Evidently the introduction of panchayati raj system in India has empowered the Panchayat not only to resolve the social issues but also to utilise the allotted funds wisely and effectively particularly MGNREGA for social and economic upliftment of the people. A panchayat is required to inspect schools and other institutions which come under its jurisdiction. No doubt, the Government needs an able person to shoulder these responsibilities.
Education not only makes a person competent but enables him/her to understand the complex structure of the constitution and the way it works. Without minimum education, one is not supposed to understand the responsibilities that a post hold, or evaluate the pros and cons of a policy and implement it, or read and understand the official documents and identify the loopholes if any, or inspect what is being taught at schools and how, or have the self-confidence to lead.
Anyone who has lived in a village and dealt with the uneducated politicians would agree how difficult it is to interact with them. Often they become adamant to get things done without understanding the process and the legal complications involved. One of the major reasons why village Government officials are corrupt is that they have to deal with the unreasonable demands of these politicians.
Even to qualify the Government jobs where one has to do routine work, one needs to have minimum qualification. Then isn’t it important for them, who would be the representative of the Government and would govern the educated staff and the citizens, to have minimum educationIJ
Apparently people had problem when Smriti Irani was appointed the Human Resource Minister of our country as they felt she doesn’t have enough educational qualifications. If it holds true then why shouldn’t a person contesting panchayat elections too have minimum educationIJ
Now let us address the second issue — sanitation.
Providing sanitation has been one of the prime concerns of the panchayat. The initiation of Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan has further ensured that the financial assistance provided to the poor to build toilets is raised.
For instance, the amount allocated for individual household toilet has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, and for school toilets this has been raised from Rs 35,000 to Rs 54,000. For anganbadi toilet, it has been raised from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000, and for community toilet, it has been raised from Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 6,00,000. The Government is not only campaigning but also providing assistance to build toilets.
Thus the allegation that the decision is taken to exclude the poor doesn’t hold true. In fact the decision of the government would encourage people to consider the campaign seriously and act accordingly.
The third aspect of the law requires an in-depth analysis. The law says those who have failed to repay the agricultural loan would not be allowed to contest. The question is who is entitled to agricultural loanIJ The poor who don’t have land registered in their names or any other property to mortgage are not entitled to loan. So the law would not harm the poor in any way.
Coming to the fourth aspect, it goes beyond saying that it is a positive move taken by the Government to exclude those having criminal charges punishable with more than 10 years of imprisonment.
Are there any specific eligibility criteria that other States followIJ
Some of the southern States of India which are considered to be developed and progressive in terms of social, economic or technology, especially Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, surprisingly have more stringent rules regarding the eligibility criteria of panchayat polls. Section 19(2)(B) of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act 1994 prohibits dumb and deaf people from contesting the panchayat elections. The Act states, “A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as a member if on the date fixed for scrutiny of nominations for election, or on the date of nomination under subsection(2) of Section 16, he is a deaf, mute or suffering from leprosy.”
Similarly, Section 26(1)(F) of the Karnataka Municipality Act 1976 also declares that deaf and dumb people are ineligible to contest municipal elections.
Evidently, the criteria imposed by the respective non-BJP Governments in these two States are more stringent and inhuman which debar the differently-abled citizens to have a political voice.
Repercussion of Haryana Panchayati Raj Ordinance and the role of the media:
Just as Amartya Sen expresses his views on the decision of the Haryana Government, a national daily came up with a sensational article, alleging that due to the draconian law of the Haryana Government, a lot of Muslim men are marrying second time to have educated wife to retain their seat. The article further explains how a young man pursuing BTech was married off to get an eligible woman to contest election. Similarly an article in the Asia Times on December 23, 2015, reads, “Wife marries her husband to an educated widow to get eligible candidate for contesting polls in Mewat.” While India Today on December, 28, 2015, reported another bizarre incident in Nagina area of Mewat district, Haryana, where a person divorced his wife so that she marries his brother-in-law whose first wife is illiterate and is not eligible to contest election. Deen Mohammad, an illiterate, did not want to lose the status of being the family of panchayat representatives. Hence he took the drastic step with the help of his wife.
What are the articles trying to proveIJ Is it the decision of the Government or the flaws prevalent in our society responsible for these nuisancesIJ
We live in a society where a Muslim man is allowed to keep four wives simultaneously, easily divorce and remarry without getting involved in any legal procedures and the political power in the villages is being held by certain uneducated rich households who can do anything to retain it.
The problem lies in the unequal distribution of power, separate laws for Muslims which is patriarchal in nature and improper implementation of the Government policies. Criticising the Government decision saying that it will promote early marriages and polygamy is thus grossly unfair.
In fact the amendment to the Panchayat Raj Act has not only dealt a blow to the patriarchal control over the panchayati raj institutions but has also compelled the chauvinistic society to realise the importance of women and their education. At least, now they would educate their daughters.
Coming back to Amartya Sen’s comment that the decision would further marginalise the subalterns, we would like to question, “were they ever included within the power politicsIJ” The rigid structure of class and caste politics in India has kept the marginalised out of the corridors of power. Access to police and judicial assistance also depends on the social, economic and political power. The Census Report of 2011 says the literacy rate of Schedule Castes in Haryana is 57 per cent but even then it’s the illiterate rich upper caste people who dominate in panchayat elections.
True the new ordinance doesn’t guarantee corruption-free panchayats, but it at least ensures that the people’s representatives are able to read and understand the documents they sign. But if the Government fails to ensure equal opportunities and access to education and financial assistance allotted by the Government to build toilets and other facilities, power would be concentrated with the rich educated people rather than the rich uneducated ones. No real change would be possible.
(Anish Gupta and Aaleya Giri teach Economics and English respectively at Delhi University. Views expressed here are personal)