Assam passes bill allowing deferring of polls to municipal boards by one year

Assam assembly on Thursday passed a bill which allowed deferring of the elections to the municipal boards by up to one year after expiry of their terms in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Assam Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2020, allowed the deferring of the elections to the municipal boards by appointing a senior official as the in-charge of the board concerned after the expiry of its term.

"The state government shall direct the Deputy Commissioner or the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil), as the case may be, of the respective jurisdiction, to take over the charge of the Board for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date of expiry of the term of the Office of the Commissioners," the Bill said.

Urban Development Minister Pijush Hazarika said in the statement of objects and reasons that the terms of municipal boards in general areas, except Goalpara Municipal Board and those in the Sixth Schedule districts were over by March 2020.

"However, the election to these municipal boards could not be conducted due to the exceptional circumstances that arose due to COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown starting from 24th March, 2020," he added.

The Assembly also passed The Assam State Capital Region Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for excluding the areas of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council and Tiwa Autonomous Council from the purview of the Assam State Capital Region.

It passed the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which diluted the criteria for filling up the post of the GMDA chief engineer.

The government can now appoint any officer up to the rank of superintending engineer instead of the additional chief engineer for the post.

During the day, the House also passed The Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2020. 

Image Credits: PTI