Jaipur: The state govt has postponed the reservation lottery for wards under Panchayati Raj institutions at the district and sub-division level by a month, with the exercise now rescheduled for Sept 17 and 18, respectively. The lottery was earlier scheduled for Aug 17 and 18. The reservation lottery for wards of 309 urban local bodies will be conducted Monday, as planned.The reservation lottery is a randomised draw system used to reserve specific seats for categories like SC, ST, OBC and women.The postponement means elections to urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions are unlikely to be held simultaneously, contrary to the state govt’s ‘one state-one election’ plan.As per the new schedule, the district-level lottery for wards of Panchayat Samiti members, pradhans and Zila Parishad members, earlier scheduled for Aug 17, will now be held on Sept 17. The sub-division level reservation lottery for sarpanchs and ward panchs, which was scheduled for Aug 18, will now be conducted on Sept 18.Panchayati Raj Department secretary and commissioner Joga Ram, in a memo issued to all districts Sunday, said the decision to postpone the lottery was taken in view of the likely conduct of urban local body polls in the first phase, and elections to Panchayati Raj institutions in the second phase.The department said the state govt is committed to completing the local body poll process by Nov 15 in compliance with Rajasthan High Court’s July 20 order. It added that the State Election Commission had informed the court that urban local body elections would be held in the first phase, followed by Panchayati Raj elections in the second phase.“Therefore… as elections of Panchayati Raj institutions are likely to be held in the second phase, it should be ensured that the reservation lottery at the district level (Zila Parishad member, pradhan and Panchayat Samiti member) is drawn on Sept 17 and the reservation lottery at the sub-division level (sarpanch and Ward panch) is drawn on Sept 18,” it said.The department stated that the reservation process for chairpersons of urban local bodies and Zila pramukh posts had been completed on Aug 13.In a statement, state election commissioner Rajeshwar Singh said the SEC will announce the Panchayati Raj election schedule immediately after receiving the results of the lottery, adding that elections to all local bodies would be conducted before Nov 15.“Without the lottery, the SEC cannot announce the elections. The responsibility for drawing the lottery lies with the state government,” he added.
