Voting out GP presidents: Assam Cabinet panel examining issue

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State Government is closely examining the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994, for a possible amendment to the provision of voting out a gaon panchayat president elected by ward members through a no-confidence motion.

The State Government has already constituted a Cabinet sub-committee to examine the possibility of bringing amendments to the Assam Panchayat Act. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Das is the chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee.

According to the Assam Panchayat Act, people directly elect the gaon panchayat president, the Anchalik Panchayat member, and ten ward members. The Act has a provision that if a majority of the ward members move a no-confidence motion against a gaon panchayat president and if the president fails to prove his majority in the floor test, he will be removed from the post.

The moot question is: how come the ward members vote out a gaon panchayat president elected by the people through direct voting, not by the ward members?

It has come to the attention of the government that some gaon panchayat presidents facing ouster through no-confidence motions by ward members have to knock on the door of the court seeking justice. They often raise the question of how ward members vote out a gaon panchayat president elected by the people. And the Cabinet subcommittee finds this point justified.

The Cabinet sub-committee is also examining the Panchayat Acts of other states in the country. The Cabinet sub-committee will also examine the issue of the delimitation of panchayat constituencies in the state if the delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies underway currently concludes successfully.

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