Ordinance soon for direct election of village sarpanch

After reaping huge political benefits of its decision to allow election of municipal council president directly from amongst the electorate, the state government on Monday decided to allow election of Sarpanch – elected head of village, in the similar way. The only condition is that the candidate for Sarpanch post has to pass at least the seventh standard and applicable for those who is born after January 1, 1995.

The BJP, which had only about a handful of municipal council chiefs of its own, was able to take its number to whopping 56 members in the municipal council elections last year following the decision of allowing direct election of council chiefs from people of the town. The state is heading for election of 8,000 Gram Panchayats in the near future and the BJP expects to repeat its performance of the municipal council polls.

The state cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, decided to amend the respective clauses of Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Act of 1958 to facilitate election of Sarpanch (Grampanchayat head) directly from among the people of the village.

An ordinance is expected to roll out soon and the government is likely to bring an Amendment Bill in the monsoon session of the state legislature which is scheduled to begin on July 25. The decision is expected to impact the elections of around 8,000 Gram Panchayats scheduled in September and October later this year.

The decision is expected to impact the elections of around 8,000 Gram Panchayats scheduled in September and October this year