PUNJAB PANCHAYATI RAJ
(AMENDMENT) ACT, 2012 THE PUNJAB PANCHAYATI RAJ (AMENDMENT) ACT,
2012 [Act No. 04 of 2012] [16th May, 2012] An Act further to amend the Punjab Panchayati
Raj Act, 1994. Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Punjab in the Sixty-Third Year of
the Republic of India, as follows:-- (1)
This Act may be called the Punjab Panchayati
Raj (Amendment) Act, 2012. (2)
It shall come into force on and with effect
from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. In the
Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),
in section 2, for clause (zt), the following clause shall be substituted,
namely:-- "(zt)
"Sarpanch" means a Sarpanch of a Gram Panchayat elected under section
10 of this Act;". In the
principal Act, in section 3, in sub-section (1),-- (a)
for the words "two hundred",
wherever occurring, the words "three hundred" shall be substituted;
and (b)
after the first proviso, the following proviso
shall be inserted, namely:-- "Provided
further that a Gram Sabha constituted prior to the commencement of the Punjab
Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2012, with a population of less than three
hundred shall not be affected.". In the
principal Act, in section 10, for sub-section (1), the following sub-sections
shall be substituted, namely:-- "(1) Every Gram Sabha shall elect from amongst its
members a Gram Panchayat for the Gram Sabha area bearing the name of its Gram
Sabha. (1-A) A Gram Panchayat shall consist of a Sarpanch and
such number of Panches as are indicated against each slab of population under
sub-section (1-C). (1-B) For the election of a Sarpanch, the Gram Sabha
shall be a single member constituency. (1-C) For the election of Panches, the Gram Sabha area
shall be divided into such number of wards co-relating with the number of
Panches, as are indicated below against each slab of population taking Gram
Sabha area to be multi-members constituencies and such wards shall be
geographically contiguous having same population, as far as possible,
throughout the Gram Sabha area:-- Serial Number Population Number of
Panches (1) For population
300 up to 1,000 Five (2) For population
1001 up to 2,000 Seven (3) For population
2001 up to 5,000 Nine (4) For population
5001 up to 10,000 Eleven (5) For population
exceeding 10001 Thirteen: Provided
that for election of Panches in respect of a Gram Panchayat of a Gram Sabha
area constituted prior to the commencement of the Punjab Panchayati Raj
(Amendment) Act, 2012, with a population of less than three hundred, the number
of Panches as determined prior to the commencement of the said Act shall remain
the same and such Gram Sabha area shall be divided into wards as per such
number of Panches for the purposes of election to be a multi-members
constituencies. In the
principal Act, after section 10, the following section shall be inserted,
namely:- "10-A.
Formulation in of wards (1)
The Deputy Commissioner, by notification
published the Official Gazette, shall propose the formulation of wards of the
Gram Sabha area to be multi-members constituencies as provided under
sub-section (1-C) of section 10 and shall earmark each ward by assigning a
separate serial number. (2)
The list of proposed wards shall be affixed
on the Notice Board of the offices of the Block Development and Panchayat
Officer, the District Development and Panchayat Officer and the Gram Panchayat
concerned. In case of any objections or suggestions, a person registered as
voter of the Gram Sabha area may submit the same, in writing, to the office of
the Deputy Commissioner concerned within a period of seven days of displaying
the list of the proposed wards. On receipt of the objections or suggestions, if
any, the Deputy Commissioner shall hold summary enquiry and shall record his
decision thereon within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of
objections and suggestions and the decision of the Deputy Commissioner
thereupon shall be final. (3)
The Deputy Commissioner shall, within a
period of ninety days from the date of his decision under sub-section (2), get
published the final list of wards in the Official Gazette.". In the
principal Act, in section 11, after sub-section (4), the following sub-section
shall be added, namely:-- "(5) The Deputy Commissioner shall reserve the
offices of Panches under this section for various categories by notification
published in the Official Gazette and such offices shall be allotted by
rotation in the different wards formulated under sub-section (1-C) of section
10 at the time of every general election and such rotation shall be made as per
the roster maintained in the office of the Deputy Commissioner." In the
principal Act, in section 13,-- (i)
in sub-section (1), for the words "Every
election of a Panch", the words "The election of a Sarpanch and
Panches" shall be substituted; and (ii)
after sub-section (3), the following
sub-section shall be inserted, namely:- "(4) The election of all excluding those persons
whose election is deemed invalid under sub-section (2) shall again be notified
by the State Government in the Official Gazette." In the
principal Act, section 13-A shall be omitted. In the
principal Act, in section 15, for Explanation to sub-section (1), the following
Explanation shall be substituted, namely:-- "Explanation.--
After the Sarpanch and the Panches have taken oath as provided under section
13, a meeting of the Gram Panchayat shall be held at the earliest and such
meeting shall be deemed to be the first meeting of the Gram Panchayat for the
purpose of this sub-section.". In the
principal Act, in section 22, in sub-section (1), for the proviso thereto, the
following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-- "Provided
that the vacancy so occurs shall be filled up out of the persons belonging to
the category to which the vacancy relates.".
Preamble - PUNJAB PANCHAYATI RAJ (AMENDMENT)
ACT, 2012PREAMBLE