(1) Before every election to a Gram Panchayat the State Government or any other officer authorised by it in this behalf shall in accordance with the provisions of section 125 of the Act, determine the number of the offices of Pradhans of Gram Panchayats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women in a block.
(2) For the purpose of reservation of the offices of the Pradhans the population of general category, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women shall be worked out Gram Sabha-wise and the percentage of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women in relation to the total population of Gram Sabha, shall be determined.
(3) In every block the offices of the Pradhans of the Gram Panchayats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population in the Block. The Gram Sabha having highest percentage of population of Scheduled Castes shall be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Gram Sabha having the highest percentage of population of Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
1 Rule 86-A, inserted vide not. No. PCH-HA(1)18/2008, dated 20.10.2008, published in Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh dated 21.10.2008, p. 4318-4319.
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(4) If the number of offices to be reserved for the members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes is more than one, then the Gram Sabha having the next highest percentage of population 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 Block is less than 5 % of the total population, then no office shall be reserved.
(5) Out of the offices reserved for members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 1 [one-half] of the offices shall be reserved for women members belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as the case may be, and the Gram Sabha having highest percentage of population of women belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, in relation to the total population of Gram Sabha, as the case may be, in a block shall be reserved for such women.
(6) If the number of offices to be reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, is more than one than the Gram Sabha having the next highest percentage of population 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 offices, excluding the offices reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (including women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), 2 [one-half] of the offices shall be reserved for women, and the Gram Sabha having the highest percentage of women population shall be reserved for general women, and so on.
(8) The offices 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 Gram Sabha 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 3 [******]and so on for subsequent election:
1 . Substituted for the words ―one-third‖, 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 . Substituted for the words ―one-third‖, 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.
3 The brackets and words "(and the office earlier reserved shall be kept open to the members of the general category)", deleted vide Not. No. PCH- HA(1)- 18/2008, dated the 8th September, 2010, published in Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh, dated 10 th of September, 2010 page. 4456-4467.
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Provided that the reservation of any office for a particular category shall not be repeated unless all other offices in the block are covered by rotation:
1[Provided further that the reservation for a particular category shall not be rotated in such a Gram Sabha where the population of that category is less than 5% of the total population of that Gram Sabha.]
2 [(8-A) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the roster of reservation of offices 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 offices shall be rotated to different Gram Sabhas under this rule.]
(9) The reservations made under this rule shall be finalised by the State Government or by any officer authorised by it, in this behalf, and shall be given wide publicity by affixing a copy of order of such reservation on the notice board of his office and that of the Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti and shall also send a copy of the same to the Government for publication of the order in the Official Gazette and this notification shall be the conclusive proof of reservations of offices as of Pradhan in the block.