Punjab Cabinet okays hiking quota for women to 50% in local bodies

The Punjab Cabinet decided to extend the enhanced 50 per cent reservation for women in the matter of rotation for the office of the panchayat sarpanch to the office of the chairperson of panchayat samitis and zila parishads.

Facts :

• The state government, led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, had enhanced reservation for women in these bodies from 33 to 50 per cent last year.
• The cabinet has now approved amendments to the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 and the Punjab Reservation for Office of Sarpanches and Gram Panchayats and Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishad Rules, 1994.
• The ordinance shall be submitted to Governor of Punjab V P Singh Badnore within seven days of the Cabinet's grant of approval.
• As per the ordinance, the principle of rotation for the purpose of reservation of offices under sections 12, 102 and 106 of 'The Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, would commence from the first election to be held after commencement of the Act.
• Following the publication of the census, the number of directly elected members, chairmen and vice chairmen of panchayat samitis and rotation for reservation of seats and offices for different categories will be determined on the basis of the population of the panchayat samiti area at the census, and rotation of seats and offices will be made at the time of every general election.
• This rotation would be subject to conditions that determination of number of seats and offices will not affect existing the composition of the panchayat samitis until the expiry of the term of office of elected members.
• After the commencement of Act 12 of 2017, the first reservation for the offices of Chairmen/Vice Chairmen of the Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis would be made in accordance with the provision of Rule 4 and 5. In the subsequent elections, all newly created constituencies would be bunched together at the end of unreserved constituencies of last roster.
• In accordance with the principle of rotation, reservation in subsequent elections will start from the first non-reserved constituency in this roster in the order Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Caste Women-Women. The remaining constituencies would be unreserved.
• All offices of Sarpanches of the newly constituted Gram Panchayats in the district shall be placed at the end of the newly prepared roster. The roster for reservation of the offices of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayats would be notified minimum one week before the date of presentation of nomination papers.

Background :

• The amendment, which was a promise made by the ruling party during the 2017 election, to increase reservation for Punjab women to 50 percent from the existing 33 in Panchayat Raj Institutions.
• This amendment was proposed to ensure that women have increased chances of being directly elected as members of gram panchayats, zila parishads, and other similar bodies.
• The bill to amend Punjab Municipal Act of 1911 and the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act of 1976 and the Panchayati Raj Act of 1994 was presented during the budget session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
• Earlier in June 2018, taking note of the observation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab has decided to revert to district-wise reservation of Sarpanch of Gram Panachayat from its current practice of Block-wise reservation.
• The Cabinet approved the necessary amendment in the Punjab Reservation of Offices and Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats and Chairman and Vice Chairmen of Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads Rules, 1994, to make the rotation process of Sarpanch in conformity with section 12(4) of Panchayati Raj Act.
• This move also enabled effective implementation of the government’s historic decision of June 2017 to enhance women’s reservation from 33% to 50% by amending Section 12 of the Panchayati Raj Act.
• Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar are some of the states that brought in 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies much before constitutional amendment demanded it to be implemented in the whole country.

Analysis :

• The amendment will help empower women in the rural areas by enhancing their reservation quota in the direct elections for members of gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, and zila parishads, besides municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
• It also means that 50 wards from municipal corporations, nagar panchayats, and municipal councils will also be reserved for women.
• Reservation for women in panchayats will facilitate more women to enter public sphere and it will empower them and strengthen country's parliamentary democracy at the grass-roots level.
• The Punjab Government’s plan also included bringing in another constitutional amendment for increasing women’s tenure to ten years to make sure that they get to continue their developmental activities without having to stop.

By: Harman Sandhu