After fixing minimum educational qualifications for panchayat elections, the Haryana government has decided to lay down qualifications for contesting elections to urban local bodies.
As per the amendment, the minimum qualification of matriculation has been fixed for all levels of elected representatives of urban local bodies. Apart from this, all persons against whom charges have been framed by a competent court for grave criminal offences punishable by not less than 10 years’ imprisonment will be debarred from contesting elections till they are acquitted by court. Similarly, cooperative loan defaulters and those who default on paying arrears of electricity bills will also be debarred from contesting elections.
As a step towards affirmative action for ensuring that women and Scheduled Caste voters are not placed in an extremely disadvantageous position, a minimum educational qualification for women and SC candidates has been fixed as “middle class” and for SC women candidates as Class Five. Besides, all candidates contesting elections to urban local bodies have to file declarations that they have a functional toilet at their residences.
Keeping in view the large number of electricity bill defaulters, an amendment has been made to debar such defaulters from contesting the elections.
