Reservation in Panchayati Raj System

      I wrote this small article during my 9th Semester in College. The subject for which I made this assignment was Local Self-Governance. It was taught by Dr.I.P. Massey. He made some very important points while teaching this subject. Some of them have been enumerated in this article. Other points are my own. Basically, this article tries to find the key problems and the challenges faced in the implementation of Reservation Policy in the Panchayati Raj System. Also, the author has tried to find flaws and loopholes in the present Reservation Policy. Hope it is useful. 

       

1.      Reservation to SC and ST is in relation to their population in that state. For OBC and women, 1/3 of all the elected seats must be reserved for women. OBC quota can be decided by the state law- We have a huge SC/ST population in India but the problem is that it is not equally distributed. In some places, it is highly concentrated whereas in others it rarely exists. But, the reservation policies are uniform throughout the states. In case of political reservation, local demographics are very important. This is because in political reservation, we are concerned with empowerment through representation. It is only in some states and regions that the reservation policies in Panchayati System are truly benefitting the SC/ST. In all the other areas, it is not helping the cause as much as it should have.

Reservation of seat for SC and ST is linked to the overall average population of SC and ST in the state. It does not serve much purpose. For reservation of SC and ST, they must be linked to state’s average in rural areas for Panchayats and urban average for Municipalities.

2.      The nature and purpose of reservations under article 243D and article 243T is about political representation- Political reservation is not something that could be based upon economic or social basis. The main concern in Political reservation is that whether a community is being adequately represented and participating in the Decision-Making process or not. In cases of political reservation for SC/ST, the concept of creamy layer cannot be introduced because the whole concept of creamy layer lies in the socio-economic basis. I personally feel that there must be political reservation in our country. Our forefathers have exploited backward communities in the past and we must pay this back. The reason for their backwardness lies in our history. Thus, if they are not part of the decision making process, we must include them by way of reservation. People say that only the empowered people in SC/ST come to the power. The counter-argument is that only an empowered person can effectively govern. If we put a weak person in power, he will succumb to pressure and various other forces. The whole purpose of political reservation shall stand forfeited. It is true that the empowered people are using reservation for their own benefit. But, still the whole SC/ST community is getting benefitted a lot.

Just because a problem exists in a system, it does not mean that the whole concept of political reservation is bad. The concept is perfectly noble and justified. I think the only thing we need is awareness. The awareness must exist both on the part of the government as well as the people. Unless, both of them understand and identify the problem, it is not going to help the situation.

3.      There is no limit of reservation in article 243, it only talks about proportionality. Article 243 is just an enabling provision- We know that the provisions in our Constitution relating to Panchayati Raj are simply enabling provisions(Enabling means that the provisions in the Constitution merely provide a broad framework, in order to implement that framework, respective state governments have to pass corresponding laws). There is a reason for this. The reason is that the reservation policies cannot be uniform throughout India. Customized policies need to be made on a case to case basis since political situation in every part of country is different.  

4.      Reservation can exceed 50% of the total seats only in Tribal Areas- By making an exception in reservation with relation to tribal areas; the Tribal areas are getting highly benefitted by it. There are a lot of tribal areas which exist in places which are very rich in natural resources and forest. The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 gives a lot of power to the Tribal Panchayats if someone is to encroach upon their area. This is a highly welcome measure as Tribal people are the ones who have been living in those areas since a long time and they must have some authority in deciding about what is rightfully theirs.

Thus, Tribal people have been benefitted by PESA. But still, in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, where a large chunk of tribal population resides, it is not applicable. This issue must be immediately addressed and it must be made applicable in those areas as well.

5.      Provisions under Schedule V of the Constitution- Schedule V of the Constitution of India provides for special provisions such as:

A.    Report by governor to the President regarding the administration of these areas.

B.     Tribes Advisory Council to advise governor.

C.     Union government to give directions to the state as to the administration of these areas.

Despite these special provisions, the pressure on natural resources in these areas continues due to the large projects being set up therein and unscrupulous elements indulging in illegal mining and forest felling. Land alienation and exploitation have also continued. This is leading to dislocation of the communities and loss of major sources of livelihood, and also increased vulnerability and disenchantment with governance.

6.      3F (Fiscal, Function and Functionary) Strategy- Function and Functionaries self-reliance- Under 3F strategy, if functionaries’ self-reliance is achieved, it would solve a lot of problems related to reservation. Right now, the power vests with the state government in all the spheres of governance. If this changes and more power is given to Panchayats, they might decide what is best for them on a case to case basis. By this I propose that even the elected representatives of the Panchayats must be involved in the decision making in the real sense.

7.      Reservation needs to be provided for SC, ST and OBC in those constituencies only when there population is 5% or more in those areas- There are some areas where there is no SC/ST/OBC population. Still, due to rotation policy/basis, those constituencies get reservation from time to time. It makes the whole process, a farce, and forfeits the very purpose of reservation since in those areas there is no SC/ST population. This must come to an end. 

8.      For SC and ST, mere reservation is not enough. People who get elected work for their own benefit and not for the community - It is important to observe that in case of SC/ST, it is the empowered people in those communities who get elected and are chosen to govern. But, after getting elected, they tend to ignore their community and start living in Ivory towers. They work for their own benefit and not for the community. There is a need to put a check on this. There should be Grievance Redressal Committees in all the areas where the SC and ST population is in sufficient numbers. 

9.      Rotation in the reservation of seats- While the Constitution does not mandate rotation of seats after just one election cycle, this often is the practice across the states. It counters the intent of reservation. Candidates who win elections for the first time from reserved seats do not get adequate opportunity to gain in experience and grow in stature by getting re-elected. Often, proxy candidates are put up, who serve a term, after which the seats gets de-reserved and becomes available to the existing powerful groups and individuals. Moreover, the rotation after one election cycle often leads to an unhealthy attitude of the elected, having little hope for re-election.

10.  Conclusion

We see that it is desirable that reservation exist for at least two terms to enable elected representatives to emerge and grow as genuine leaders. Such a provision already exists in Tamil Nadu. It is argued that this would lead to a seat becoming available to a particular group for decades and the right to recall should be  able to address the ills of one election cycle. But as explained earlier, the balance of advantage would lie with rotation only after two election cycles.

Further, Article 243D provides that seats and offices of chairpersons reserved for SC/ST/OBC shall be allotted by rotation irrespective of their population in a Panchayat/Ward. Since the proportion of population of those categories varies among Panchayats, this may lead to the situation that proportionate numbers of seats are not reserved for those categories in Panchayats, where their proportion is high, while disproportionate numbers of seats are reserved for them in Panchayats where their population may be low or even zero. This vitiates the spirit of reservation, and also increases resentment as the manner of reservation is seen as illogical.

It may therefore be required that seats and offices of chairpersons be reserved for two continuous terms for a particular category and reservation be only in those territorial areas where the population of an area if 5% of more.

Although, our legislators have enacted a Panchayati Raj system, it is not functioning to the full advantage of people. As pointed earlier, there are a lot of problems with reservation in Panchayati Raj. These are just few of the many issues. The government and the authorities must pay some attention to this.