Sunday, 01 SEPTEMBER 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The constitutional logjam created by the decision of the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha to send the contentious Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh Municipal corporation 1959) Amendment Bill 2024 to the select committee of the Assembly has further delayed the holding of the elections of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Uttarakhand. In an attempt to avoid a situation of an administrative void, the State government on Saturday extended the tenure of the administrators in the ULBs till the constitution of new boards after elections.
The order for giving extension to the tenure of the administrators was given by the Urban Development secretary Nitesh Jha.
The five-year term of the elected boards in all the ULBs of the State ended on December 1, 2023. Since the State government could not conduct the elections last year due to the pending report of the Supreme Court constituted one member dedicated commission on OBC reservation in the ULBs, it deputed administrators in all the bodies by an order dated November 30, 2023. This tenure of the administrators was further extended to a period of three months on June 2, 2024. With the end of this extension and with no hope of elections in the immediate future, the government has now extended the tenure of the administrators till the constitution of new boards by elections.
After dispatch of the municipal bodies bill to the select committee of the Assembly, the government was left with no option but to further postpone the ULB elections. After going through the bill and holding deliberations the select committee will submit its report to the Speaker and based on the report the government can make changes in the OBC reservations and the castes to be included in the list of OBC in the proposed bill. The government could either table this bill in the winter session of the assembly or could convene a one day special session of the Assembly for passage of the bill. There are 102 ULBs in the State and the elections for 99 ULBs (barring Kedarnath, Badrinath and Gangotri Nagar Panchayats) will be held.
