Only defaulters, not all candidates need to get no dues certificate

LUCKNOW: Only those candidates wanting to contest the three tier panchayat polls and whose name is in the defaulters’ list need to obtain a no dues certificate and submit the same to the election office now.

So far, all the candidates were required to contest the no-dues certificate.

The state government issued a GO to this effect on Sunday night giving relief to lakhs of potential candidates who were doing the rounds of various offices trying to get no dues certificates.

Under the law pendency of arrears of tax, sub-tax, fee, etc (charged by village panchayats, kshetra panchayats and zila panchayats) against a person constitutes a ground for his being disqualified from contesting a rural election.

The GO issued by additional chief secretary (panchayati raj) Manoj Kumar Singh, has directed officials to prepare lists of people who have any panchayat’s (village, kshetra or zila panchayat) dues pending against them and put up the same on the walls of public places, mainly in development blocks.

The panchayati raj department also has been asked to upload the lists of defaulters on its website and make lists available to the election commission too. “Only those people whose name is in the list need to obtain no dues certificates from the panchayat concerned after clearing the arrears pending against them. This is legally wrong to ask all contestants to get no dues certificates from all the three levels- village panchayat, kshetra panchayat and zila panchayat,” the GO says.

The GO further says that some district magistrates have passed orders requiring candidates to get no dues certificates from the UP Cooperative Village Development Bank Ltd and the District Cooperative Bank Ltd. “Passing such an order is against the rules,” the GO clarifies.

The GO has, as an annexure, Lucknow DM Abhishek Prakash’s order he issued to officials on Feb 11 in this regard.

People aware of the issue in the panchayati raj department said that the government issued the GO after it received complaints about the government staff charging fee from potential candidates for issuing no dues certificates to them without there being any provision of any such fee.

“The GO will end extortion of lakhs of candidates who want to contest,” they claimed.

The elections are being held to the posts of village pradhans, ward members, kshetra panchayat members and zila panchayat members.

The voting for the first phase will take place on April 15.