Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) Department has issued an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for the reservation of constituencies for SC, ST, and women candidates in the Panchayat election in the state slated for 2025.
According to the SOP, the 2001 Census Report of 2001 will be taken for working out SC and ST and populations at different levels of PRI (Panchayati Raj Institution) constituencies.
While the district commissioners will reserve the seats of ward members, presidents, and vice presidents of the Gaon Panchayats and Anchalik Panchayats and members of the Zilla Parishads for SC, ST, and women, the state P&RD Department will reserve seats of presidents and vice presidents of the Zilla Parishads for SC, ST, and women. In sync with the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 2023, the SOP says that wards with more than 10 percent ST and SC populations will come for the purpose of reservation by rotation. The principle of rotation for the purpose of reservation shall commence from the first election after the delimitation of PRI constituencies. So, the ensuing panchayat election shall be taken as the first election for the process of reservation. The reservation for women, on the other hand, will be by rotation and by lottery as per the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994 (amended). The extant Panchayat Act & Rules require 50 percent reservation for women in all levels of PRI constituencies (including for the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) by rotation and lottery.
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