Haryana fixes edu qualification for Urban Bodies' polls

Any male person desiring to contest for Urban Local Bodies in Haryana will now have to be matriculate and have a functional toilet at home while and a woman and a Scheduled Caste candidate will be required to be at least 8th standard pass.
Minimum educational qualification for SC women candidates will be 5th standard pass.
The minimum qualification and requirement of toilet for contesting Urban Local Bodies polls, like in the case of Panchayati Raj institutions, has been prescribed in the Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which was passed by the Haryana Assembly today.
The bill amends Section 13-A of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 and Section-8 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994.

The amendment aims at strengthening the Urban Local Bodies, the third tier of the governance and improving the efficiency, transparency and accountability by making education a necessary qualification for the office-bearers of the Urban Local Bodies, according to the government.
The Bill proposes prescribed qualification as Secondary class pass (matriculation) for all levels of the elected representatives of the Urban Local Bodies.

Minimum educational qualification for women and Scheduled caste candidates has been fixed as middle class and for SC women candidates as 5th Class.
The Bill also proposes candidates contesting the elections to Urban Local Bodies have to file a self declaration that they have the provision of a functional toilet at the residence.

"Prescribing minimum standards of education will not only help in augmenting performance of the members of Urban Local Bodies, but also reduce chances of them being misled and ensure their accountability," according to the Bill.
"In view of good literacy rate in the state, election of educated candidates for Urban Local Bodies will prove to be a catalyst for faster and sustainable development of cities," it adds.
With regard to toilets, the bill says, "The appropriate sanitation arrangements in the residential areas of urban population is the main attention of the time and in this scenario the provision of functioning toilets in each and every house is must.

"To boost and encourage such type of provision of toilet must be started from the elected representative of the Urban Local Bodies.
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Persons against whom charges have been framed by the competent court for grave criminal offences punishable with imprisonment for not less than 10 years will be debarred from contesting the elections till they are acquitted by the Courts.
"Objective of the amendments is that elected members of Urban Local Bodies are leaders of society and their conduct should be impeccable. There are instances where persons have been let off because of shortcomings in the investigation process and non-fulfillment of technical specifications like absence of sanction of prosecution or lack of strong prosecution by the public prosecutor.

"Therefore, conviction of charges framed against any person by a court in a criminal case for an offence, punishable with imprisonment for not less than ten years is being made as a disqualification for contesting the election of Urban Local Bodies," as per the Bill.
Moreover, electricity defaulters and defaulters of Co-operative loans taken from Punjab Agriculture Cooperative Society, District Central Cooperative Rural Development Bank will also be debarred from contesting elections after the amendments.
"The Urban Local Bodies are also expected to lead social change and foster economic development in the cities. All this requires educated and informed leadership, which can lead by example. Therefore, default of payment of electricity bill or of loans of cooperative institutions is being made as disqualification for contesting the elections of Urban Local Bodies," Bill said.

Notably, in September last year, the State Assembly had passed a Bill, fixing the minimum educational qualification for elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions besides laying down other conditions including making it mandatory for the candidates to have functional toilets.