Bhubaneswar: In a bid to increase women
representation in grass root level politics, Orissa government
on Friday decided to reserve 50 per cent of seats and posts for
women in the three-tier panchayati raj institutions.
This was decided at the cabinet meeting in Bhubaneswar chaired
by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. "The cabinet has decided to
increase the women reservation quota to not less than 50 per
cent from the existing 33 per cent in the three tier
panchayati raj system", said chief secretary B K Patnaik.
The decision would be implemented in the state in the
panchayat elections in February-March, 2012. "The reservation
for women will not be just 50 per cent, it should be not less
than 50 per cent", Tripathy said.
Orissa had been the first state in the country to
reserve one-third of the seats in panchayati raj system
earlier, panchayati raj secretary S N Tripathy.
However, several states had increased the women quota
in panchayati raj system before it is done by Orissa.
In another decision, the government also extended
tenure of rotation of posts categories in the panchayat
system. "A seat reserved for women, ST, SC or OBC will be
changed after two terms instead of one term", Tripathy said.
The government also gave the power to gram panchayats
to levy tax on properties in their respective jurisdictions.
However, the gram panchayat tax could not be imposed on BPL
families.
PTI
