Assam Assembly Passes 2 Bills to Reserve Seats in Municipalities for Women

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• Dec 24, 2021 | Deleted

Guwahati: Giving a boost to the women section of the state, the Assam assembly Friday passed two legislations on Thursday to reserve 50 per cent of seats in civic bodies constituencies for women for the period of ten years on a rotational basis.

The Assam Municipal (Third Amendment) Bill, 2021 proposes that 50 per cent of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in any municipality bodies, including those allocated for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

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According to the modification to the Assam Municipal Act, 1956, such seats shall be allocated by rotation to various constituencies in a municipality every ten years.

Minister of Urban Development Ashok Singhal said, "The provision of a ward reservation for ten years would encourage women to engage in the democratic process of election and will enable them to provide sustainability to projects executed by urban local authorities." said Ashok Singhal, Minister of Urban Development."

The Assembly also approved the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which extends the period of women's reservation for up to ten years in direct elections for councillors. It also seeks to impose penalties for violation of the Act.

Moreover, gives power to the government to increase the number of wards of GMC when necessary.

Additionally, in another amendment bill introduced by Ashok Singhal, the state government can now choose the chief engineer of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) not less than the position of Superintendent Engineer (Civil) from any department.

Earlier, only state superintending engineers of PWD officers were eligible for it.  

The winter session of the Assam assembly also introduced the Assam Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2021.