JAIPUR: The two petitions filed in the Supreme Court to oppose state government's ordinance mandating minimum education qualification for candidates contesting panchayat polls would be heard on January 5. One of the petitions was filed by an affected person Naurti Bai, sarpanch of Harmada village in Ajmer, who is an uneducated dalit woman, while the other was a PIL moved by noted social worker Aruna Roy and the association of democratic reforms (ADR). 

The PIL underlines facts that the people's right to contest has been violated. While about 80% of the Rajasthan rural electorate will not be able to contest the polls as they do not meet the norms, about 95% women electorate have been barred by it.