Madhya Pradesh

• 27 May 2022

The Madhya Pradesh Municipal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022

Why in News?

On May 26, 2022, The Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Mangubhai Patel gave his assent to the Madhya Pradesh Municipal Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022, proposed by the state government.

Key Points

• The Ordinance also prescribes indirect election of chairpersons and vice-presidents of Municipal Councils and Nagar panchayats in the state.
• After the ordinance is approved, the mayors of municipal corporations and (big cities) will now be directly elected by the people, while the presidents and vice-presidents of municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats (small towns) will be elected by the elected corporators.
• After the gazette notification is published, the proposal will be sent to the State Election Commission (SEC) for implementation.
• There are a total of 413 urban local bodies in the state, including 16 municipal corporations, 99 municipal councils and 298 Nagar Panchayats.
• It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had recently allowed reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in local body elections in Madhya Pradesh, paving the way for holding elections to more than 23,000 such bodies, which have been functioning without elected representatives for the last two years.