Kin standing in for women panchayat representatives: After oath row, MP sends notices | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
The order was issued after it came to light that husbands, brothers-in-law and fathers-in-law of elected women representatives were administered the official oath in at least three panchayats under Sagar, Damoh and Dhar districts.
The Panchayat Raj department of Madhya Pradesh issued an order Monday, directing district collectors to take necessary action and submit action taken reports against officers who administered the oath of office to unelected people in the three-tier panchayat system.
The order was issued after it came to light that husbands, brothers-in-law and fathers-in-law of elected women representatives were administered the official oath in at least three panchayats under Sagar, Damoh and Dhar districts.
Panchayat Raj director Alok Kumar Singh said, “We have asked the district collectors concerned to take necessary action in such cases.”
As per reports, oath-taking ceremonies were organised during the ‘pratham sammelan’ in Jaisinagar and Jaruakheda panchayats under Sagar district on August 4. On the occasion, 21 elected representatives, including 10 women, from each of the two panchayats were invited to their respective panchayat offices. But only three women showed up in Jaisinagar and five in Jaruakheda. After the women did not show up, the brother-in-law of one woman, father-in-law of another woman and husbands of two others came in and were administered the oath by the respective gram panchayat secretaries – Asharam Sahu in Jaisinagar and Rajaram Chadu in Jaruakheda.
But after the videos of the men taking oath instead of the elected women went viral, the women were summoned at their respective panchayat offices and administered the oath the next day, while Sahu and Chadu were suspended the following day.
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