The Hindu : Front Page : Administration in a quandary over headless village panchayat

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Wednesday, Nov 22, 2006
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Administration in a quandary over headless village panchayat

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

Expect the State Election Commission to notify a by-election to overcome stalemate

TIRUCHI: The district administration, having successfully conducted both direct and indirect elections in all the 407 village panchayats in Tiruchi, are now facing a piquant situation in the Sorathur (Reserved for ST General) panchayat in Thuraiyur block.

Of the 408 panchayats in the district, Sorathur remains the only village panchayat without a duly elected president. No individual from the Scheduled Tribe community from the panchayat came forward to contest the seat.

The president's post which was allotted to the General category in the last two elections to the local bodies held in 1996 and 2001, was reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community-general under the rotation system during the 2006 election.

The State Election Commission reserved Sorathur panchayat comprising three wards, all with double membership, to the ST community based on the 2001 census. Of the total population of 2,303 in the panchayat, the SCs account for 467 persons, and the STs 193.

All rejected

While the election for the three wards was completed as per schedule, the problem for the post of the president arose at the stage of filing of nominations itself.

Though three nominations were received for the post of the president, the Returning Officer rejected all of them during scrutiny on different grounds. While the nominations of two aspirants were rejected on the grounds that their names did not figure in the voters' list of the Sorathur panchayat, which was mandatory, the papers of the third candidate was rejected as he failed to submit the ST community certificate along with the nomination.

As no other ST resident of the panchayat came forward to file the papers, the elections could not be conducted. Consequently, the seat has now been declared vacant.

In this backdrop, the district administration has informed the State Election Commission (SEC) about the piquant situation prevailing in the panchayat. Official sources expect the SEC to notify a by-election to overcome the stalemate in village administration.

Meanwhile, one among the six ward members was elected as the vice-president of the Sorathur panchayat to administer the panchayat affairs until a regular president is elected.

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