Make vaccination must for panchayat polls candidate, minister tells poll body

The upcoming panchayat polls in the state may require aspiring candidates to get vaccinated as a prerequisite to contest elections if a suggestion made to this effect by the state’s panchayati raj department gets approved by the state election commission (SEC)

The upcoming panchayat polls in the state may require aspiring candidates to get vaccinated as a prerequisite to contest elections if a suggestion made to this effect by the state’s panchayati raj department gets approved by the state election commission (SEC).

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Panchayati Raj minister Samrat Choudhary said he has suggested that all candidates keen to contest the panchayat polls should get vaccinated mandatorily and provide their certificates so that the rural population also gets inoculated and the safety parameters during the campaign of the three-tier local bodies are maintained.

The possible spread of the coronavirus during campaigning in the rural areas during the panchayat polls, expected to be held from October onwards, is a major cause of concern for both the government and state poll body, amid warnings from experts of a third wave. Vaccine hesitancy in rural areas continues to be a big challenge for the health department.

“If the vaccination clause is made mandatory for aspiring candidates, we expect to inoculate several lakhs of people in the rural areas. This will be a big achievement in terms of vaccination and provide protection to rural people,” said the minister. “I have suggested to the SEC, which is yet to take a call on it,” he said.

Panchayat polls in Bihar were due to begin in March, but had to be deferred because of the deadly second wave. The five-year term of the rural local bodies ended on June 15.

The state government, through an ordinance, has decided that panchayats will be run through advisory committees till fresh elections are held.