Goa State Election Commission to get powers for delimitation, ward quota in civic polls

PANAJI: The state government on Wednesday approved the Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Bill, 2022, so as to devolve the powers of delimitation and reservation to the Goa State Election Commission (SEC) in order to conduct municipal elections in a free, fair and transparent manner, and to enhance the revenue of municipalities.
To achieve this, the Bill seeks to amend section 10 of the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968 (Act 7 of 1969). It also seeks to insert new clauses 19a and 25 in section 2 of the Act so as to define the terms, “holder” and “member of the family of the lessee”.
An amendment to section 56 has been sought so as to avoid frequent requisition of special meetings for removal of the chairperson and the vice-chairperson, which puts unnecessary strain on the council’s administration and the director of urban development (municipal administration).
Section 88 has been proposed to be amended to help enhance the councils’ revenue.