Port Blair, Sept 01: Reacting to the news regarding removal of about 100 names of electors of the Gram Sabha of Baratang (Nayagarh), the office of Panchayat and Municipal Elections today issued a clarification.
The clarification said that as per Section 4 of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Panchayats) Regulation, 1994 a Gram Sabha shall consists of persons registered in the Electoral Roll relating to a village or group of villages comprising the area of a Gram Panchayat. As per Section (7) of the said Regulation a member of Gram Sabha shall cease to be a member if the area, if the area where he resides has been excluded from the jurisdiction of the Gram Sabha.
“As per Rule 17 of Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Panchayats) (Preparation of Electoral Rolls and Conduct of Elections) Rules, 1995, (1) Such part of the electoral rolls of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands House of the people constituency prepared under the representation of the People Act, 1950, and the rule made hereunder, for the time being in force, as is comprised in the relevant territorial area of a Gram Sabha shall be the electoral roll of members of that Gram Sabha. Appropriate alteration in the arrangement, serial numbering and the headings of the rolls shall be made,” the clarification said.
It was added in the said clarification that delimitation of constituencies of Gram Panchayats was ordered in the month of May, 2015, subsequent to which fresh electoral rolls for each Gram Sabha constituencies were prepared on the basis of electoral rolls of house of people revised and published on 10th January 2015.
“Persons found beyond the limits of Gram Sabha were weeded out. In respect of electors whose name is alleged to have been removed were infact from a tract of land which was beyond and outside the revenue boundary. It is a fact that such persons had applied for inclusion in the electoral roll of concerned Gram Sabha during the recent revision of electoral rolls of Gram Sabha. Such claims while scrutiny were found to be ineligible to be made a part of Gram Sabha and hence claims were rejected. It is re-iterated that having found the claims for inclusion in such part of concerned Gram Sabha to be invalid, the claims were rejected,” the press communication added.
