Jaipur: Women will head Zila Parishads (ZP) in 20 of Rajasthan’s 41 districts, including all four districts of Bikaner division, after reservation lottery for Zila Pramukh posts was completed in Jaipur Thursday. The reservation exercise, held ahead of the Panchayati Raj General Elections-2026, provides for 50% reservation for women across all categories — General, OBC, SC and ST.The lottery for all 41 Zila Parishads was conducted at Indira Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sansthan under the chairmanship of Panchayati Raj Department Secretary and Commissioner Jogaram.Under the prescribed reservation and rotation system, five Zila Pramukh posts were reserved for OBCs, including two for women in Beawar and Sikar. Of the eight SC-reserved posts, four were reserved for women in Dausa, Bharatpur, Tonk and Dholpur. Similarly, three of the seven ST-reserved posts were reserved for women in Salumbar, Pratapgarh and Alwar.Eleven Zila Pramukh posts were reserved for women under the General category — Churu, Ajmer, Jhunjhunu, Chittorgarh, Hanumangarh, Deeg, Sriganganagar, Jhalawar, Phalodi, Bikaner and Kota.In Bikaner division, women will head all four Zila Parishads — Bikaner, Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and Churu, under unreserved category.Meanwhile, Zila Pramukh posts in Baran, Barmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Karauli, Kotputli-Behror, Rajsamand, Sirohi and Udaipur remained unreserved.The lottery process was briefly halted for 25 minutes after some people objected to provision relating to reservation of one woman Zila Pramukh from each division. Officials examined the relevant provisions of Panchayati Raj Act and explained the rules to those raising objections, following which the process resumed.Jogaram said reservation was determined in accordance with the prescribed provisions and rotation system and the process was conducted transparently.
