why education qualification is not needed to contest election .
Answers
As India is a democratic country, the elections should provide the voters with real choice. This happens only when there are almost no restrictions on anyone to contest an election. This is what our system provides. Anyone who can be a voter can also become a candidate in elections. The only difference is that in order to be a candidate the minimum age is 25 years, while it is only 18 years for being a voter. There are some other restrictions on criminals etc. but these apply in very extreme cases.
There is some information which is made public about the candidates contesting an election. It includes criminal cases pending against the candidate and educational qualifications of the candidate. But there is no minimum qualification. Why?
Educational qualifications are not relevant to all kinds of jobs.
The relevant criterion for selection to the Indian cricket team, for example, is not the attainment of scholarly degrees but the ability to play cricket well.
Similarly, the relevant qualification for being an MLA or an MP is the ability to understand people’s concerns, problems and to represent their interests. And this ability is examined by the lakhs of voters, they have the right to choose who is fittest for this job.
Even if education was relevant, it should be left to the people to decide how much importance they give to educational qualifications. It is the voter’s individual decision to give importance to education or their ability to tackle issues etc.
There is yet another simple reason if you are wondering that other countries have such a requirement. In our country, putting an educational qualification like a graduate degree as the requirement would go against the spirit of democracy as it would make more than 80% of the citizens ineligible to contest elections.
In my opinion, I don’t think that our constitution-makers or the government has forgotten or done a mistake here. It is not an impediment to democratic and fair elections.
Hope it helps :-)