This paper examines the legal framework governing reservation policies in village panchayat elections within Maharashtra. The basis of these policies is enshrined in Article 243D of the Indian Constitution, which mandates that reservations be provided for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in proportion to their population within the panchayat area. This article also stipulates that at least one-third of all seats, including those reserved for SCs and STs, must be allocated for women. Furthermore, reserved seats must be rotated among different electoral wards to ensure broader participation, and the reservations for SCs and STs are subject to a time limit as specified in Article 334, which is currently set at 80 years. Additionally, state legislatures have the discretion to enact laws providing further reservations for "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs). In alignment with these constitutional principles, Maharashtra's Village Panchayat Act, 1959, extends the reservation policies by mandating a 27% reservation for OBCs on top of the existing SC/ST reservations. The state law also enhances women's representation by requiring a 50% reservation for women across all castes, surpassing the constitutional minimum. Candidates contesting reserved seats are required to produce caste validity certificates within six months of the election to avoid disqualification. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment was designed to bolster participation and leadership from marginalized communities in local governance, and the Supreme Court has affirmed the importance of these reservation policies in promoting political empowerment and democratic decentralization. Despite these advancements, several challenges persist. The stringent requirement for obtaining caste validity certificates within a limited timeframe can create barriers for candidates. Additionally, there is a risk of misuse if the reservation system is not properly implemented or monitored, potentially allowing individuals who do not genuinely belong to reserved categories to exploit the provisions.
| Published in | International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 7, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13 |
| Page(s) | 155-164 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Constitution, Reservation, Policy, Law, Panchayat, Elections
| [1] | The Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992. |
| [2] | D. D. Basu, “Introduction To The Indian Constitution” Edition: 26th EBC Publication 2023, page no. 30. |
| [3] | Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959. |
| [4] | Abhinav Chandrachud, “These seats are reserved- Caste, Quotas and the Constitution of India”, penguin random India publisher (2023), page nos. 1-4. |
| [5] | R. K. Jain, “Women in Panchayats: A Study of Reservation Policy” Concept Publishing Company; First Edition 2010, page no. 11. |
| [6] | S. K. Singh and S. K Singh, “Panchayati Raj and Reservation Policy: Study of Impact of Reservation Policy on the Marginalised Sections of the Society” Rawat Publications, 2018, page no. 21. |
| [7] | Doabia & Doabia, “Law of Elections and Election Petitions” Edition 5th EBC publication 2024, page nos. 913-991. |
| [8] | U. P. Deopujari, “Village Panchayat and Panchayati Raj in Maharashtra” (2023), Nagpur Law House, page nos. 55-97. |
APA Style
Kendre, D. P. (2024). Constitutional and Legal Provisions Related to Reservation Policies for Village Panchayat Elections in Maharashtra. International Journal of Law and Society, 7(4), 155-164. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13
ACS Style
Kendre, D. P. Constitutional and Legal Provisions Related to Reservation Policies for Village Panchayat Elections in Maharashtra. Int. J. Law Soc. 2024, 7(4), 155-164. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13,
author = {Dnyaneshwar Pralhadrao Kendre},
title = {Constitutional and Legal Provisions Related to Reservation Policies for Village Panchayat Elections in Maharashtra
},
journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
volume = {7},
number = {4},
pages = {155-164},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20240704.13},
abstract = {This paper examines the legal framework governing reservation policies in village panchayat elections within Maharashtra. The basis of these policies is enshrined in Article 243D of the Indian Constitution, which mandates that reservations be provided for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in proportion to their population within the panchayat area. This article also stipulates that at least one-third of all seats, including those reserved for SCs and STs, must be allocated for women. Furthermore, reserved seats must be rotated among different electoral wards to ensure broader participation, and the reservations for SCs and STs are subject to a time limit as specified in Article 334, which is currently set at 80 years. Additionally, state legislatures have the discretion to enact laws providing further reservations for "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs). In alignment with these constitutional principles, Maharashtra's Village Panchayat Act, 1959, extends the reservation policies by mandating a 27% reservation for OBCs on top of the existing SC/ST reservations. The state law also enhances women's representation by requiring a 50% reservation for women across all castes, surpassing the constitutional minimum. Candidates contesting reserved seats are required to produce caste validity certificates within six months of the election to avoid disqualification. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment was designed to bolster participation and leadership from marginalized communities in local governance, and the Supreme Court has affirmed the importance of these reservation policies in promoting political empowerment and democratic decentralization. Despite these advancements, several challenges persist. The stringent requirement for obtaining caste validity certificates within a limited timeframe can create barriers for candidates. Additionally, there is a risk of misuse if the reservation system is not properly implemented or monitored, potentially allowing individuals who do not genuinely belong to reserved categories to exploit the provisions.
},
year = {2024}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Constitutional and Legal Provisions Related to Reservation Policies for Village Panchayat Elections in Maharashtra AU - Dnyaneshwar Pralhadrao Kendre Y1 - 2024/11/26 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13 T2 - International Journal of Law and Society JF - International Journal of Law and Society JO - International Journal of Law and Society SP - 155 EP - 164 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2640-1908 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20240704.13 AB - This paper examines the legal framework governing reservation policies in village panchayat elections within Maharashtra. The basis of these policies is enshrined in Article 243D of the Indian Constitution, which mandates that reservations be provided for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in proportion to their population within the panchayat area. This article also stipulates that at least one-third of all seats, including those reserved for SCs and STs, must be allocated for women. Furthermore, reserved seats must be rotated among different electoral wards to ensure broader participation, and the reservations for SCs and STs are subject to a time limit as specified in Article 334, which is currently set at 80 years. Additionally, state legislatures have the discretion to enact laws providing further reservations for "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs). In alignment with these constitutional principles, Maharashtra's Village Panchayat Act, 1959, extends the reservation policies by mandating a 27% reservation for OBCs on top of the existing SC/ST reservations. The state law also enhances women's representation by requiring a 50% reservation for women across all castes, surpassing the constitutional minimum. Candidates contesting reserved seats are required to produce caste validity certificates within six months of the election to avoid disqualification. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment was designed to bolster participation and leadership from marginalized communities in local governance, and the Supreme Court has affirmed the importance of these reservation policies in promoting political empowerment and democratic decentralization. Despite these advancements, several challenges persist. The stringent requirement for obtaining caste validity certificates within a limited timeframe can create barriers for candidates. Additionally, there is a risk of misuse if the reservation system is not properly implemented or monitored, potentially allowing individuals who do not genuinely belong to reserved categories to exploit the provisions. VL - 7 IS - 4 ER -
Indian Law Society's Law College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
