Uttar Pradesh: Yogi cabinet annuls SP regime’s order, amends panchayat quota, seat allotment rule

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has approved the UP Panchayati Raj (Reservation and Allotment of Seats and Offices) (Eleventh Amendment) Rules, 2021. On Tuesday, the cabinet annulled the erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav-led government’s 2015 reservation order, which rendered null and void the rotational seat reservation in rural local bodies. The cabinet also removed the previous provisions related to the delimitation of Gram Sabhas and the reservation of panchayat seats.

The Allahabad High Court has set April 30 as the deadline for holding panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the government has omitted the provision of general delimitation of territorial constituencies of gram panchayats based on general modifications in panchayat areas before a gram panchayat election, the allotment of seats and territorial constituencies reserved for women should be made afresh.

The government has also removed a provision which mandated the allotment of offices of pradhans reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Castes and the Backward Castes, and the allotment of such offices reserved for women should be made afresh whenever there is a general modification in panchayat areas because of a change in the population.

The new rules are part of the eleventh amendment and come into force with effect from the date of the publication in the official gazette.

Earlier, Allahabad High Court had rejected Uttar Pradesh Election Commission’s proposal to hold rural civic elections in May and had asked the Commission to ensure that the elections are held by April 30. The state has 826 development blocks and 58,194 Gram Sabhas. There are a total of 7,31,813 wards in the Gram Sabhas, 75,855 wards in Kshetra Panchayats and 30,051 wards in 75 Zila Panchayats. According to the state government, 880 Gram Panchayats have been reduced in the last five years due to the expansion of urban bodies. While 59,074 village Pradhan were elected in 2016 elections, the upcoming poll will see only 58,194 village heads getting elected.