Ordinance Summary
The Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023
- The Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, was promulgated on May 16, 2023. It amends the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994. The Act provides for the constitution of municipal corporations in the state.
- Change in data repository to fix seats: The Act required that after every census, the state government must fix the number of seats in a Municipal Corporation on the basis of the latest census figures. The Ordinance instead provides that the number of seats will be fixed based on the Family Information Data Repository (FIDR) established under the Haryana Parivar Pehchan Act, 2021. However, if the population as per the FIDR is less than 140% of the registered voters as per the last Electoral Roll, then the population estimate will be taken to be 140% of the number of voters in the electoral roll.
- The Act mandated that the population in each ward must be same throughout a corporation, with no more than 10% variation. The Ordinance increases the limit for variation to 20%.
- Reservation of seats for backward classes: The Act reserved two seats in every municipal corporation, for persons belonging to Backward Classes. Reserved seats were allotted to constituencies with the maximum population of persons belonging to Backward Classes. The Ordinance instead provides that seats will be reserved for Backward Classes ‘A’, which is a subset of notified Backward Classes. The number of reserved seats, as nearly as possible, will be half the ratio of the population belonging to the Backward Class ‘A’ to the total population of the municipal corporation. At least one-third of the seats reserved for Backward Classes ‘A’ will be reserved for women from the community. For determining reservation, population data will be drawn from the FIDR.
- The Ordinance specifies a mechanism for determining which constituencies will be reserved for Backward Classes ‘A’. Lots will be drawn among three times the number of reserved seats and will be allotted in rotation among municipalities which have the largest percentage of the population belonging to the Backward Classes ‘A’.
- It further provides that each municipal corporation will have at least one Backward Classes ‘A’ member if their population is 2% or more of the total population. If the total number of reserved seats, including seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, exceeds 50%, the reserved seats for Backward Classes ‘A’ will be restricted to the highest number that remains within the limit.
- Review of reserved seats: The Act provides that seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, women (including Scheduled Castes), and Backward Classes will be reviewed after every decennial census. The Ordinance removes the reference to Backward Classes.
- Office of Mayor: The Act provides that the office of mayor of the municipal corporation will be filled up by members belonging to: (i) general category, (ii) women, (iii) Scheduled Castes, and (iv) Backward Classes on a rotation period drawn by lots. The Ordinance replaces Backward Classes with Backward Classes ‘A’.
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