Official blunder freezes rural poll

Shimla: An administrative blunder has paralysed Bavasni's panchayat election in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district after bureaucrats reserved the village headship for a woman from the other backward class (OBC) that has zero residents.The nomination period closed with zero filings, third time after similar mistaken reservation mandates in 2005 and 2010. Back then, the headman elections had to be deferred for eight months, with a deputy officiating as pradhan temporarily.Community leaders met Solan's deputy commissioner months prior to the election to request the seat be unreserved but his office relied on an outdated 1995 OBC Commission report to finalise the local voting rosters. It must now schedule delayed, special elections once the demographic classification is rectified legally.MSID:: 131229967 413 |