E-Paper
Backward Classes (A) of Haryana to get quota in Panchayati Raj Institutions
The Haryana Cabinet accepted Haryana Backward Classes Commission’s report that says BC (A) not adequately represented in the political setup
: Accepting recommendations of Haryana State Backward Classes Commission (HSBCC), the Haryana cabinet on Wednesday decided to give reservation to people belonging to Backward Classes (A) category in the upcoming elections of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in the state.
The BC (A) is a subcategory of the Backward Classes, which is considered more backward among the BCs.
The seats of panch in gram panchayats, and members in panchayat samitis and zila parishads will be reserved as per the criteria and the reservation will not exceed 50 per cent aggregate of the total seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and BC (A) taken together in a particular PRI.
The Cabinet decision comes a day after the HSBCC submitted its report to chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar about reservation for BC (A) in the PRI polls.
“The Commission has found that the Backward Classes of citizens in Block- A (BC-A) are not adequately represented in the political setup and they require political reservation in the Panchayati Raj Institutions,” a government spokesperson said, adding that to ensure the political reservation rights of BC (A) in the PRIs, the Haryana cabinet accepted the Commission’s report.
RESERVATION METHOD
In case the population of the backward class Block A is 25 per cent of the total population of the gram sabha, then 12.5 per cent seats will be reserved for BC (A) citizens, subject to other conditions also. If in a given village, the population of the Scheduled Castes is 50 per cent or more, then BC (A) will not get any reservation, irrespective of the percentage of their population, the spokesperson said.
The seats of panch in every panchayat will be reserved for the BC (A) in same proportion of the total seats as one-half of the percentage of population of BC (A) to the total population in that panchayat. In case the decimal value is 0.5 or more, it will be rounded off to the next higher integer.
Every panchayat will have at least one panch belonging to BC (A) if its population is 2 per cent or more of the total population of the panchayat area.
At least 8 per cent of the total number of seats of sarpanch in a block and rounded off to the next higher integer in case the decimal value is 0.5 or more will also be reserved for BC (A).
In panchayat samitis and Zila Parishad, the seats of member will be reserved for the BC (A) as per the criteria.
The Commission has said that as per the direction of Apex Court, the reservation will not exceed aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs BC (A) taken together in a particular Panchayati Raj Institution.
In case the number of reserved BC (A) seats after being added to the numbers of the seats reserved for SCs exceeds 50 per cent of the total seats in the given PRIs, then the numbers of seats reserved for BC (A) will be restricted to the largest number in such a manner that total reserved BC (A) and SC seats together should not exceed 50 per cent of the total seats of the panch in the gram panchayat, and members of Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad respectively. ENDS
