The Haryana Government, on Wednesday, announced that Backward classes (BCs) will be given reservation in the upcoming Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) election.
The state cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, accepted the Haryana Backward Classes Commission’s report which had mentioned that the backward classes of citizens, Block- A (BC-A), are not adequately represented in the political setup, so they require political reservation in the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
An official spokesperson said seats of Panch (village council ward member) in every Gram Panchayat will be reserved for the Backward Classes (A) in same proportion of the total seats as one-half of the percentage of population of Backward Classes (A) to the total population in that Gram Sabha Area. In case the decimal value is 0.5 or more, it will be rounded off to the next higher integer.
“Provided that every Gram Panchayat will have at least one Panch belonging to the Backward Classes (A) if its population is two percent or more of the total population of the Sabha area,” he highlighted.
Eight percent of the total number of offices of Sarpanch in a block and rounded off to the next higher integer in case the decimal value is 0.5 or more will be reserved for Backward Classes (A).
Seats of members will be reserved for the Backward Classes (A) in every Panchayat Samiti in the same proportion of total seats as one-half of the percentage of population of Backward Classes (A) to the total population in that block. In case the decimal value is 0.5 or more, it will be rounded off to the next higher integer.
Seats of members will be reserved for the Backward Classes (A) in every Zila Parishad in the same proportion of total seats as one-half of the percentage of population of Backward Classes (A) to the total population in that Zila Parishad area.
The reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50 percent of the total seats reserved in favour of Scheduled Castes and BC (A) taken together in a particular Panchayati Raj Institution.
The Commission has stated that as per the direction of the Supreme Court, the reservation should not exceed an aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of Scheduled Castes and BC (A) taken together in a particular Panchayati Raj Institution.