BHUBANESWAR: The uncertainty over urban local body polls is likely to be over soon with the State government on Monday tabling the Odisha Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to amend the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003.
Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena said as far as reservation of seats in favour of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes is concerned, there is no need for amending the relevant provisions of the two Acts. However, the provisions relating to reservation of 27 per cent seats in favour of backward class citizens (BCC) need amendment so as to limit the total reservation of seats to 50 per cent in compliance with the orders of the High Court in the light of decision of Supreme Court in K Krishna Murthy case. “Hence, there is no scope left except for amending the relevant provisions of the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act 2003,” said Jena.
The government has proposed to amend section 11 of the Municipal Act to substitute sub-section 3 which reads, “seats shall be reserved in favour of BCC as referred to in clause 6 of Article 243T of the Constitution in every municipality, by the district magistrate to an extent not exceeding 27 percentum.
This is subject to the ceiling limit of 50 percentum of total number of seats of such municipality including seats so reserved for SCs, STs under sub-section (1) and BCCs taken together and such seats shall be allotted by rotation to different wards in a municipal area at every general election.”A similar provision is also substituted in section 7 of the Municipal Corporation Act, 2003.
Similarly, section 47 of the Municipal Act and section 14 of the Municipal Corporation Act needed to be amended to reserve the offices of chairperson and mayor for BCCs keeping the 27 per cent reservation and ceiling limit of 50 percentum intact.In view of the April 18, 2018 judgment of the High Court, the upper limit of reservation in respect of SCs, STs and BCCs in ULBs should not exceed 50 per cent, he added.
The Minister also tabled the Odisha Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for amendment of relevant provisions of Gram Pachayat Act, Panchayat Samiti Act and Zilla Parishad Act to make provisions of 27 per cent reservation for BCCs within the ceiling limit.