(1) Before every election to a Panchayat the Deputy Commissioner or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf shall, in accordance with the provisions of sections 8, 78, and 89 of the Act reserve the constituencies for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women in a Panchayat area and determine their rotation.
(2) In every Panchayat the population of general category, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women shall be worked out constituency-wise 1 . Clause(e), deleted vide Not. No. PCH- HA(1)- 18/2008, dated the 8 th September, 2010, published in Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 10 th of September, 2010 page 4456-4467 .
2 Sub–rule 2 substituted vide Not. No. PCH- HA(1)- 18/2008, dated the 8th September, 2010, published in Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 10 th September, 2010 , page 4456-4467, .
16 and the percentage of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and Women, in relation to the total population of the Constituency shall be determined for the purposes of making reservation.
(3) In every Panchayat, constituency/constituencies shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population in that Panchayat area. The constituency having highest percentage of population of Scheduled Castes shall be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes and the constituency having the highest percentage of population of Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
(4) If the number of constituencies to be reserved for the members of Scheduled Castes or Tribes is more than one, then the constituency having the next highest percentage of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be and so on:
Provided that if the total population of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in a Panchayat area is less than five percent of the total population of the panchayat area, then no constituency shall be reserved.
(5) Out of the constituencies reserved for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 1 [one-half] of the constituencies shall be reserved for women members belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, and the Constituency having highest percentage of population of women belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in relation to total population of the Constituency, as the case may be, in a Panchayat area shall be reserved for such women.
(6) If the number of constituencies to be reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes, or Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, is more than one then the constituency having the next highest percentage of women belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, shall be reserved for such women, and so on.
(7) Out of the total constituencies excluding the constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (including women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes), 2 [one- half] of the constituencies shall be reserved for women and the constituency having highest percentage of population of women shall be reserved for such women and if the number of constituencies to be reserved for women is more than one, then the constituency having the next highest percentage of women population shall be reserved for general women and so on .
1 Substituted for the words ―one third‖ vide Not. No. PCH- HA(1)- 18/2008, dated 8 th September, 2010, published in Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 10 th September, 2010 page . 4456-4467.
2 Substituted for the words ―one third‖ vide Not. No. PCH- HA(1)- 18/2008, dated 8 th September, 2010, published in Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 10 th September, 2010 page . 4456-4467.
17 1 [(8) The Constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women belonging to general category on the basis of percentage of population shall be rotated after every five years from the date of first election. At the time of next election, the constituency/constituencies having the next highest percentage of population shall be reserved for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes including women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women belonging to general category and so on for subsequent elections:
Provided that the reservation for a particular category shall not be repeated unless all other constituencies are covered by rotation:
Provided further that the reservation for a particular category shall not be rotated in such a constituency where the population of that category is less than 5% of the total population of that constituency.]
2 [(8-A) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the roster of reservation of seats shall operate from the initial stage for the elections to be held after the commencement of the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj (Election) Amendment Rules, 2010 as if the said elections are being conducted for the first time under sub-rule (8) and thereafter, the reservation of seats shall be rotated to different constituencies under this rule.]
(9) The reservations made under this rule shall be finalised by the Deputy Commissioner or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf and shall be given wide publicity by him by affixing a copy of order of such reservation on the notice board of his office and that of the offices of Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samitis and Gram Panchayats and he shall also send a copy of the same to the Government and this notification shall be the conclusive proof of reservations of constituencies.