Nagaland passed new Municipal Act which reserves 33% seat for women in ULBs

The 60-member Nagaland Legislative Assembly passed the Nagaland Municipalities Bill 2023, providing that 33% of one-third seats in urban local bodies (ULBs) should be reserved for women.

Deputy Speaker and Justice TR Zeliang of the special committee to review the Nagaland Municipalities Bill, 2023, while participating in the discussion on the bill, said the committee had good discussions with the Speaker’s secretary, department heads and senior officials. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) before agreeing to submit to Parliament.

“I am very happy with the clarity of this bill and the 33% reservation for women. I am standing here and I am satisfied and satisfied and I am happy that this bill will be passed and our women will get it. The need Motivation to become a voting member of the ULB and participate in the decisions that create the organization for our town,” Zeliang said.

She appealed to women not to let the issue of chairperson reservation hamper the ULB elections. “With your capability and perseverance, I am sure that you will give the men a fair and tough competition for the post and there would not be any reasons why you would need reservation for the same,” he said.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio while giving his remark on why the Bill should be passed said, “This law, which we are going to have, is not the end, but only a beginning. The time has come for the women folk to participate and perform in the administration of the urban local bodies, and I hope that in a short time, we will see positive and meaningful results”.

Besides highlighting the chronology of the contentious Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001 which was repealed in March this year, Rio narrated how the state legislative Assembly assigned a Select Committee of the house consisting of seven members headed by Zeliang to examine a new Bill.

“While agreeing to all the provisions of the Bill, in the interest of our people as well as make the proposed Act even more efficacious, (the Committee) has recommended for incorporation of certain more clauses in the Bill. It is recommended that local citizens have the opportunity to become members of the city council or city council and that city laws are reviewed every 10 years, which is what most of our civil society organizations think. . In the new Nagaland Municipal Bill 2023 introduced today, we have incorporated the recommendations of the Special Committee. “He said. How ULB got to where we are today has become a problem for our culture, in which we are torn between the rhetoric of the people who elected us and the demands of the Constitution to do so peacefully and non-violently.

Explaining the ordeal, he said the government would like to thank the Supreme Court judges who heard the cases filed in the high court on the matter and understood the issues faced by the government, thereby helping the government to be more patient until the Nagaland women came forward Country town time.

“Our country is at the beginning of the end of urbanization. However, Nagaland is urbanizing at a very fast pace. Now we have 39 urban communities across the state. We have to provide proper space and space for urban development. Providing urban goods through local governments. We wasted a lot of valuable time trying to reach an agreement on the ULB issue. With the passage of the New Municipal Corporation of Nagaland (Act) 2023, we hope that the new ULB will take steps to make our towns well-functioning, well-developed, well-planned, clean and beautiful. Leo added.

Representatives of different political parties, including Naga People’s Front (NPF), Janata Dal (LJP), National People’s Party (NPP), Janata Dal (JDU), National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)) . ), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Republican Party of India (RPI) and independent candidates participated in the discussion.