STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: With the passage of the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2023, by the Assam Legislative Assembly today, EVMs (electronic voting machines) are set to replace ballot papers in the panchayat poll in the state. The passage of the bill has also put an end to the direct election of gaon panchayat presidents. The elected 'ward sabha' members will elect the GP presidents and vice presidents.
Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass introduced the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on the very first day of this assembly session on September 11, 2023. The bill came up for discussion on the fourth day today, and the bill got its passage after a marathon discussion.
According to the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2023, each gaon panchayat will have ten ward sabhas. After the panchayat election, the ten elected ward sabha members will elect their GP presidents and vice presidents. Earlier, voters elected GP presidents through direct voting. In the event of the necessity of moving a no-confidence motion against GP presidents, the ward sabha members can do so after two years and six months. From now on, the gaon panchayat election will be without the symbols of political parties. However, the candidates can use their respective party symbols in the election of Anchalik Panchayat and Zila Parishad members.
According to the bill, all panchayat constituencies in the state will go through a delimitation exercise. The government will form a three-member district delimitation commission with district commissioners as chairmen in each district.
The minister said that the delimitation exercise will keep the number of panchayat constituencies the same. He said, "Now on, general candidates for ward sabha members have to pass class X, and pass class XII for anchalaik panchayat and zila parishad members. This aside, the accounts of the zila parishads will come under the AG (Accountant General). The Anti-Defection Law will be applicable for the Zila Parishads."
MLAs Nurul Huda, Aminul Islam (senior), Aminul Islam (junior), Biswajit Phukan, Koushik Roy, Rakibul Hussain, Bhuban Pegu, Manoranjan Talukdar, Akhil Gogoi, Nandita Das, and others took part in the discussion.
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