243D. Reservation of seats.—
(1) Seats shall be reserved for—
(a) the Scheduled Castes; and
(b) the Scheduled Tribes,
in every Panchayat and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as
may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct
election in that Panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that
Panchayat area or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the
total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to
different constituencies in a Panchayat.
(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under
clause
(1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as
the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for
women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the
total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be
reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different
constituencies in a Panchayat.
(4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or
any other level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled
Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law,
provide:
Provided that the number of offices of Chairpersons reserved for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Panchayats at each level in
any State shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total
number of such offices in the Panchayats at each level as the population of the
Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to
the total population of the State:
Provided further that not less than one-third of the total number of offices
of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women:
Provided also that the number of offices reserved under this clause shall
be allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level.
(5) The reservation of seats under clauses
(1) and
(2) and the reservation of
offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation for women) under clause
(4)
shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in article 334.
(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making
any provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in
the Panchayats at any level in favour of backward class of citizens.
122 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
(Part IX.—The Panchayats)
