In Chhattisgarh, only literates for panchayats

However, Ajay Chandrakar, Minister for Panchayats and Rural Development, is not disappointed. ‘‘Chhattisgarh has become the first and pioneering state in the country to pass the law,’’ he says.

As per the earlier plan, to run for sarpanch or panch, a candidate was required to have completed primary education or studied till Class V. To be a Janpad representative, clearing Class VIII was to be made a must. And to be a zila panchayat representative, a higher secondary certificate was to be the minimum requirement. Now anyone standing for any of the above posts need only be literate.

The Opposition Congress that had opposed the Bill yesterday, complaining that it was impractical in a state with a huge tribal population, supported it today after the important amendment had been made.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, Chandrakar said the objective of the legislation was not only to give a new face to the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) in the state but to also fight illiteracy, insanitation and rural backwardness, and to ensure proper utilisation of grants. He claimed that over Rs 150 crore sanctioned to PRIs in the last three years had not helped improve living in rural areas.

‘‘We want the educated class to run PRI affairs and show results,’’ he said, adding that someone had to make a beginning and rise above narrow political considerations.

Pleading against the Bill, a tribal Congress MLA, Kavsi Lakhma, said, ‘‘I am an illiterate person, fully eligible to contest for the Vidhan Sabha or Lok Sabha but not a panchayat. This is against my constitutional rights.’’ To this, Chandrakar countered: ‘‘Do you mean your children should also remain illiterate like you? Don’t you want them to be literates?’’