Section 19. Reservation of seats.

(1) Seats shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in every Gram Panchayat, and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Panchayat as the population of Scheduled Castes or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total population of that area and such seats shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in such Gram Panchayat, in such manner as may be prescribed. (2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under sub-section (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes, or as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes. (3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Gram Panchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Gram Panchayat in such manner as may be prescribed