Haryana women challenge qualification norm to contest panchayat polls

NEW DELHI: Three women from Haryana have moved the Supreme Court questioning the validity of a law mandating educational qualification – Class 10 pass for men, Class 8 pass for women and Class 5 pass for Dalits – for those contesting panchayat polls, terming it a device to deprive an overwhelming majority of the population from taking part in grassroots-level elections.
The women from Fatehabad, Hissar and Jhajjhar moved the court challenging the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015, saying 83.06% of rural women above 20 years of age in the state would be disqualified from contesting panchayat polls as they did not possess the requisite educational qualification. “Almost 67% of women in urban areas will 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 lack of toilet in the candidate’s house.
The petition, to be mentioned before a bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar on Thursday, 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 farmers 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.”