Prayagraj:
The Allahabad High Court has taken a strong stand on the interference of Pradhans in the work of the village council and issued a circular to the State Election Commission that an affidavit should be taken from the candidate at the time of nomination in future that there is no interference from the Pradhan or anyone else in the work of the woman village head.
The court has also directed the Principal Secretary Panchayat Raj to send this order to all the village heads.
The village assembly’s petition has been rejected imposing a compensation of Rs 10,000 and it has been said that both the head and head husband will pay five thousand rupees each. The demand draft will be submitted to the Director General’s office within two weeks.
The court has directed the District Magistrate of Bijnor that President Sukhdev Singh should not interfere in the work of Madpuri Gaon Sabha of Nagina Tehsil. All the work should be done by the woman President Karamjit Kaur.
Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamsheri has given this order while rejecting the petition filed by Gaon Sabha Madpuri.
The court said “Pradhanpati has become a very popular word in Uttar Pradesh. It is being used on a wide scale. Pradhanpati is indiscriminately using the powers of the female village head without any authority. The Mahila Pradhan has become like a rubber stamp. All the decisions of the village council are taken by the Pradhan. The elected public representative remains a silent spectator. This petition is a perfect example of this.”
The court also mentioned that no proposal of the Gaon Sabha to file the petition on behalf of the Gaon Sabha is attached to the petition.
“The female head does not have the right to delegate her power to her husband or anyone else and the head also does not have the right to interfere in the work of the village council. Despite this, the Pradhan Pradhan gave an affidavit and filed a petition on behalf of the village council through the Mahila Pradhan to which he has no right,” the Court added.
The court emphasized that if such permission is given, the political objective of women’s empowerment will fail.
“Also, efforts to include women in the mainstream of politics by giving them special reservation will fail,” the Court said.
The Court also said that there are many women leaders in the state who are doing good work.
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