Governor Approves Bihar Municipal Amendment Ordinance

• 14 Jan 2022

Why in News

• On January 13, 2022, Bihar Governor Fagu Chauhan approved the Bihar Municipality (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022. By notifying the ordinance, a new system of election of Mayor-Deputy Mayor or President-Vice President has been implemented in the municipal bodies.

Key Points

• The Bihar government has amended the municipal ordinance and made a provision that the head and deputy head of government of each city of Bihar shall be elected by the vote of the voters residing within the limits of the municipal body there.
• This system has been implemented for the election of Mayor-Deputy Mayor of all 19 Municipal Corporations of Bihar and President-Vice President of 89 Councils and 155 Nagar Panchayats.
• With the issuance of the Gazette Notification of the Bihar Municipal (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022, the old system of election of Mayor-Deputy Mayor or President-Vice President in municipal bodies has ended.
• It is noteworthy that till now the Mayor-Deputy Mayor was elected from amongst the ward councilors in the municipal bodies. There was a system to remove them by the majority of the ward councilors, but now in the event of death, resignation or dismissal of the person sitting on these posts, only the elected person from among the public will take these posts for the remaining period.
• Ward councilors will not be able to remove them from office on the basis of majority by bringing a no-confidence motion against the Mayor-Deputy Mayor or the President-Vice President.
• The state government will introduce the Bihar Municipal (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022 as the Bihar Municipal (Amendment) Bill, which will be called the Bihar Municipal (Amendment) Act, 2022 after it is passed, in the next session of the assembly.
• Amendments have been made in Section 23 and Section 25 of the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 to conduct the selection of the President and Vice-Chairman of Municipal Bodies in the manner of direct election of the public. In both the sections, the mayor-deputy mayor or president-vice president has been informed by the designation of chief councilor and deputy chief councilor.
• Through three subsections of Section 23, arrangements have been given for the general election of the Chief Councilor and the Deputy Chief Councilor and the election in alternative circumstances. Similarly, through amendment in three subsections of section 25, the arrangement for dismissal or resignation from both the posts has been given.
• It is to be known that elections to all 263 municipal bodies in Bihar are proposed between April and June.
• Directly elected public representatives of urban bodies will ensure their accountability to the public and will accelerate the ambitious plans and projects being run for the development of cities.