SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: It’s now almost certain that the general panchayat elections scheduled next month will be postponed to November this year in view of the recent Supreme Court directives asking all States and State commissions to follow the triple test on reservation of seats.
A decision on postponing the elections by five to six months will be taken during the meeting between Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho, Chief Secretary P K Goel and Secretary (Panchayats) Sanjay Gihar called at the Secretariat, Porvorim on Monday.
Last week, a three-member Bench of Supreme Court while hearing a petition on holding panchayat polls in Madhya Pradesh, mandated all States to strictly follow the triple test laid down for reservation of wards.
Under the triple test, the State government has to appoint panels, collect empirical data for quantifying the extent and backwardness every panchayat wise while ensuring that the reservation quota does not exist exceed 50 per cent ceiling.
When contacted, a government official said that the panchayat elections will be postponed due to recent Supreme Court directives. He said that the file submitted by the State Election Commission (SEC) regarding reservation of wards would now be sent back to the Commission to carry out fresh exercise as per the
triple test. For this, the Commission might need minimum three to four months, he said.
If panchayat elections are postponed then the government will have to take a decision whether to extend the tenure or to appoint administrators for 186 village
panchayats.
At the same time, the Supreme Court has said that the election process cannot be delayed and it is constitutional obligation of the government to hold elections on time. The court has asked the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission to notify the panchayat polls within next two weeks and to hold elections without OBC quota.
