Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), July 4: A woman sarpanch in Odisha’s Gajapati district lost her position two years after being elected due to her inability to write in Odia.
Kanakalata Pal (56), who served as the sarpanch of Chandiput panchayat in Mohana block, Gajapati district, was ousted following a legal challenge by her rival candidate, as reported by TNIE.
Pal had won the 2022 Panchayat election, defeating Lalita Badaraita. However, under the Panchayat Act, sarpanch candidates are required to be proficient in reading and writing Odia.
Lalita initially filed a complaint with the election officer in Mohana, and later escalated the issue to the First Class Judicial Magistrate in Mohana when no action was taken.
During the proceedings, Magistrate Subhjit Behera asked Kanakalata to demonstrate her ability to write in Odia. While she could read the language, she failed to write it.
Consequently, the magistrate ruled to disqualify her election and ordered the Gajapati district election officer and Mohana block development officer (BDO) to arrange a re-election for the sarpanch post.
Kanakalata Pal expressed her intention to appeal the decision in a higher court.
