A district court in Odisha's tribal-dominated district of Kandhamal disqualified a woman representative of a Panchayati Raj body from her post over the violation of the two-child norm which restricts anyone with more than two-children from holding posts to such bodies.
Subhrenti Pradhan, chairperson of the Daringibadi Panchayat Samiti in Kandhamal district was removed by Kandhamal district judge for breaching the Samiti Act of 1994, according to a report in the Hindustan Times.
Pradhan is the wife of the sitting BJD MLA from G Udaygiri, Saluga Pradhan.
The order came in response to a petition filed by a member of the Tajungia panchayat samiti, Ruda Mallik. Mallik's lawyer claimed, according to the HT report, Pradhan had hidden the number of children she had in order to be elected for the post.
The two-child norm, which was enacted after the 1991 census, has often been criticised for being discriminatorily used against the tribals and women. The Supreme Court in October last year had even upheld the dismissal of a former tribal Sarpanch in Nuapada district for having three children.
Comments
0 comment