AIDWA welcomes the amendment passed in the Rajya Sabha to the President’s Address regarding the rights of all citizens to contest Panchayat Elections. This reiterates AIDWA’s position that an Amendment prescribing minimum educational qualifications to contest the Panchayati Raj institutions affected the most marginalized and poor sections of the society including Dalits and women.
AIDWA members had challenged these educational and other disqualifications in the Supreme Court and placed on record data which showed that an overwhelming number of people particularly Dalits and women would be disqualified by these anti democratic and anti people amendment. Data from the Census of India, 2011, had shown that in effect the disqualifications would bar 55.63% of non SC men, 68.65% of non SC women, 62.16 % of SC men, and 83.06 % of SC women.
Prescribing minimum educational qualifications for contesting elections to Panchayats goes
against the Constitution and violate the letter and spirit of the 73rd Amendment to the
Constitution which sought to ensure a more inclusive self government at the Panchayat level.
This disqualification from contesting on the basis of education also punishes citizens for
repeated failures of the State to provide education.
The recent panchayat elections in Haryana also show the adverse impact of prescribing an
educational qualification for contest as a significant number of seats went uncontested and
many seats had no contestants.
AIDWA has resolved to carry out a struggle for a roll back of the Amendment prescribing
minimum educational qualifications for contesting Panchayati Raj seats.
