 bill no 35 of  2016 the representation of the people (amendment) bill, 2016 byshri rajendra agrawal, mp a billfurther to amend the representation of the people act, 1951be  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement20162 in the representation of the people act, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as principal act), for section 3, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new section for section 35"3 a person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a representative of any state or union territory in the council of states unless he is an elector from a parliamentary constituency in india and holds a graduate or equivalent degree from any recognised university:qualification for membership of the council of statesprovided that in the case of a woman candidate or a candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be senior secondary school pass or equivalent qualification:10provided further that in the case of a woman candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be secondary school pass"amendment of section 43 in section 4 of the principal act, after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—15"(e) he holds a graduate or equivalent degree from any recognised university:provided that in the case of woman candidate or a candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be senior secondary school pass or equivalent qualification:provided further that in case of a woman candidate belonging to the scheduled castes, the minimum educational qualification shall be secondary school pass"20amendment of section 54 in section 5 of the principal act, after clause (c) the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—"(d) he holds a senior secondary school pass or equivalent certificate:25provided that in the case of a woman candidate or a candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be secondary school pass:provided further that in case of a woman candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be eighth class pass"amendment of section 6305 in section 6 of the principal act, after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—"(3) a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the legislative council of a state unless he holds senior secondary school pass or equivalent certificate:35provided that in the case of a woman candidate or a candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be secondary school pass:provided further that in the case of a woman candidate belonging to the scheduled caste, the minimum educational qualification shall be eighth class pass" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe representation of the people act, 1951 provides for the conduct of elections of the houses of parliament and the house or houses of the legislature of each state; the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those houses; the corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such electionsin december 2015, supreme court in rajbala & others vs state of haryana & others upheld the constitutional validity of an amendment to panchayati raj act, 1994, which makes education must for panchayat candidatescurrently, education is a basic necessity for everyone it is urgently required that as a representative of their constituencies, as a member of parliament or as a member of state legislature, a candidate must possess certain educational qualification it will assist law and policy makers in performing their task efficiently in the legislative and supervisory rolesin the first lok sabha, only 58 per cent of members had educational qualification of graduation or above while in the fourteenth lok sabha, 82 per cent of its members have educational qualification of graduation and above in the present lok sabha, 75 per cent of the members of parliament have graduation and above educational qualificationin view of the above, the bill seeks to amend the representation of the people act,1951 with a view to providing minimum educational qualification:—(i) for members of parliament graduation or equivalent and above, in the case of a candidate belonging to the scheduled caste or woman, senior secondary school pass and above and in the case of woman candidate from the scheduled caste secondary pass and above; and(ii) for member of legislative assemblies and councils, senior secondary school pass or equivalent and above, in the case of a candidate belonging to the scheduled caste or a woman, secondary school pass or equivalent and above, and in the case of a woman belonging to the scheduled caste eighth class pass or above to ensure that educated and informed persons are elected as a representative to the house of parliament and state legislative assemblies or councils, as the case may behence this billnew delhi;rajendra  agrawalfebruary 11,  2016 annexure extract from the representation of the people act, 1951(43 of 1951) chapter i qualification and membership of parliament"(3) a person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a representative of any state or union territory in the council of states unless he is an elector for a parliamentary constituency in indiaqualification for membership of the council of states(4) a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the house of the people unless—qualification for membership of the house of the people(d) in the case of any other seat, he is an elector for any parliamentary constituency (5) a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the legislative assembly of a state unless—qualification for membership of a legislative assembly(c) in the case of any other seat, he is an elector for any assembly constituency in that state:providing that for the period referred to in clause (2) of article 371a, any seat allocated to the tuensang district in the legislative assembly council referred to in that article 6 (1) a person shall not be qualified to fill a seat in legislative council of a state to be filled by election unless he is an elector for any assembly constituency in the statequalification for membership of a legislative council———— a billfurther to amend the representation of the people act, 1951————(shri rajendra agrawal, mp)gmgipmrnd—4299ls(s3)—24022016