Assam Assembly passes Bill to reserve 50% seats for women in civic bodies

GUWAHATI: The Assam Assembly had passed two bills to reserve 50 per cent seats for women for 10 years on a rotational basis in constituencies of the civic bodies in the state.

According to the Assam Municipal (Third Amendment) Bill, 2021, 50 per cent of the total number of seats to be filled up by direct election, including those reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, in any municipality will be reserved for women.

Such seats will be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a municipality every 10 years, as per the amendment to the Assam Municipal Act, 1956.

The Assembly also passed The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which extends the tenure of women reservation for up to 10 years in the direct election of its councilors.

The amendments to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) Act, 1969, also seeks to levy stricter penal provisions for violations committed under the Act as most of the provisions for penalty do not serve as deterrents for violators now.