Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) M. Ramadass on Tuesday urged the government to form a fresh committee to carry out delimitation exercise for local bodies polls.
In a statement, he said the panel could examine the findings of the 2016 committee and suggest fresh delimitation of wards and reserve wards for OBC, Women, SC and ST.
The committee, if needed, could use the projected population of 2021 for delimitation.
The committee should be given a time limit of 45 days to present its report before the government, political parties and the State Election Commission. After the publication of the final report in the gazette, none should question the delimitation exercise.
The SEC should immediately approach the Supreme Court to seek permission for the conduct of the polls in the next three months, he said.
While urging the SEC, government and political parties to work jointly for the conduct of the polls, Mr. Ramadass said, “The SEC, undoubtedly, is a statutory body. But its activities should be beyond public criticism and free from discrepancies and deficiencies. In implementing its rules and regulations, the SEC should work in consonance with the political and social reality and avoid alleged autocratic behaviour.”
The political parties should also understand the legal “constraints” under which the SEC operates. They should develop a “genuine” interest in holding the poll.
Political parties should consider local bodies polls as a positive opportunity to accommodate and empower their grassroot workers with positions of authority and social respect thereby keeping them “happy.”
“With the elected representatives in place in local bodies, the government can facilitate decentralised planning, solution to area-based problems, mitigation of poverty, ensure clean and healthy Puducherry and productive implementation of State and Central schemes,” Mr. Ramadass added.
