In exercise of the powers conferred by
Section 12 of the Tamil Nadu Delimitation Commission Act, 2017 (Tamil Nadu Act
23 of 2017) the Delimitation Commission, with the approval of the Government,
hereby makes the following Regulations:- (1)
These
Regulations may be called the Tamil Nadu Local Bodies Delimitation Regulations,
2017. (2)
They
shall come into force on the 1st September, 2017. In these regulations, unless the context
otherwise requires,- (a)
"Act"
means the Tamil Nadu Delimitation Commission Act, 2017 (Tamil Nadu Act 23 of
2017); (b)
"Local
Body" means the Village Panchayats, Panchayat Unions and District
Panchayats constituted under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu
Act 21 of 1994) or Town Panchayats and Municipalities constituted under the
Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1920) or
Municipal Corporations established under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation
Act, 1919 (Tamil Nadu Act IV of 1919) or Madurai City Municipal Corporation
Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 15 of 1971) or Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation
Act, 1981 (Tamil Nadu Act 25 of 1981) or Tiruchirapalli City Municipal
Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 28 of 1994) or Tirunelveli City Municipal
Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 28 of 1994) or Salem City Municipal Corporation
Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 29 of 1994) or Tiruppur City Municipal Corporation
Act, 2008 (Tamil Nadu Act 7 of 2008) or Erode City Municipal Corporation Act,
2008 (Tamil Nadu Act 8 of 2008) or Vellore City Municipal Corporation Act, 2008
(Tamil Nadu Act 26 of 2008) or Thoothukudi City Municipal Corporation Act, 2008
(Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 2008) or Thanjavur City Municipal Corporation Act, 2013
(Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 2013) or Dindigul City Municipal Corporation Act, 2013
(Tamil Nadu Act 25 of 2013) or any other law for the time being in force; (c)
"Commission"
means the Delimitation Commission constituted under sub-section (1) of section
3 of the Act; (d)
"Government"
means the State Government; (e)
"Inspector"
means the Collector of revenue district; (f)
"Member"
means the members including the Chairman of the Commission; (g)
"Member-Secretary"
means the Secretary to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission; (h)
Words
and expressions used but not defined in these Regulations, but defined in the
Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 or in the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities
Act, 1920 or in the respective Corporation Acts shall have the meanings,
respectively, assigned to them in the above said Acts. (1)
The
following Officers shall be the Delimitation Authorities, namely:- (a)
The
Block Development Officer (Block Panchayat and Village Panchayat) for the wards
in a Village Panchayat; (b)
The
Assistant Director (Panchayats) for the wards in a Panchayat Union; (c)
The
Secretary of District Panchayat for the wards in a District Panchayat; (d)
The
Executive Officer of the respective Town Panchayats for the wards in a Town
Panchayat; (e)
The
Commissioner of the respective Municipality for the wards in a Municipality; (f)
The
Commissioner of the respective Municipal Corporation for the wards in a
Municipal Corporation, except Chennai City Municipal Corporation; (g)
The
Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance) or Regional Deputy Commissioners, as
may be, designated by the Commissioner of Chennai City Municipal Corporation
for the wards in Chennai City Municipal Corporation. (1)
The
Collector of every Revenue District, except Chennai District, shall be the
District Delimitation Authority for the purpose of delimitation of territorial
wards of Local Bodies. (2)
The
Commissioner of Chennai City Municipal Corporation shall be the District
Delimitation Authority for the purpose of delimitation of territorial wards in
the Chennai City Municipal Corporation. Subject to the functions of the Commission
specified in section 4 of the Act, the following basic principles for
preparation of territorial wards for Local Bodies shall be followed by the
Delimitation Authorities and District Delimitation Authorities:- (a)
Each
Local Body shall have to be divided into as many territorial wards based on the
strength fixed by the Government, from time to time: Provided that the total number of territorial
wards and number of members to be elected from such wards in every Local Body
shall be the same as they exist on the date of commencement of the Act. (b)
The
population in each ward shall be the same in that Local Body as far as
practically possible. (c)
The
delimitation of wards in every Local Body shall be on the basis of the
population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant
figures have been published. (1)
The
Delimitation Authorities of the Local Body concerned shall prepare the draft
proposal for delimitation of every Local Body into territorial wards, based on
the following criteria, namely:- (a)
Each
ward shall have clear boundaries, either Natural or Manmade. (b)
The
shape of each ward shall be geographically compact and contiguous. (c)
There
shall be no gerrymandering for the purpose of consolidation of specific vote
banks. (d)
10%
(ten per cent) variation of population shall be permissible for making clear
boundary in territorial wards. In the case of Village Panchayats, such
variation shall not exceed 25% (twenty five per cent). (e)
The
wards so formed are given a specific number according to their geographical
location within the Local Body area starting from the North-West and ending in
South-East in a zig-zag manner, contiguously adopting numerals. (f)
The
underlying criteria for delimitation is that each ward of the Local Body
concerned shall have parity in population as far as practically possible on the
basis of last preceding census: Provided that where the population figures of
any area is not available from the census figures published, the Inspector in
the case of Village Panchayats, Panchayat Union Councils or District Panchayats
or Town Panchayats or the Commissioner of the Municipalities concerned or the
Commissioner of the Municipal Corporations concerned, as the case may be, may
determine the population of such area with preference to the voting strength of
the area as per the relevant portion of the current electoral roll of the Tamil
Nadu Legislative Assembly Constituency. (2)
The
Delimitation Authorities shall prepare a detailed map highlighting the
boundaries of the local bodies, ward wise and in total for the local body,
based on the formula proposed by the Commission. (3)
The
Delimitation Authority, after preparation of the Delimitation proposal, shall
forward it to the District Delimitation Authority for verification of, and
making correction on, such proposal. (1)
The
District Delimitation Authority shall verify the correctness of the
delimitation proposals, based on the population of the last preceding census
for such local body and upon the formula for the delimitation of wards proposed
by the Commission. (2)
The
proposals for delimitation of territorial wards of the local body forwarded by
the Delimitation Authority along with detailed map after due verification
thereon, shall be recommended to the Commission by the District Delimitation
Authority. (3)
The
Commission shall approve the Delimitation proposals submitted by the District
Delimitation Authority if found correct after due verification and issue the
draft Delimitation order for the local body concerned. The number of wards as they exist on the date
of commencement of the Act shall be maintained and the delimitation shall be
done based on the increased population as ascertained in the last preceding
census providing parity in representation in all the wards within the
respective local body. For the purpose of delimitation of territorial wards of
Local Bodies, the following factors shall be taken into account namely:- (a)
(i)
The Commission shall prepare the formula for preparing the proposal for draft
delimitation order and organise training for the Delimitation Authorities at
the State level in the first instance and then at the district level in the
respective districts. (ii) The formula shall be the same for all
the Local Bodies and shall be within the provisions of the Tamil Nadu
Panchayats Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994) and the Tamil Nadu District
Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1920) and the respective
Corporations' Acts with regard to population strength of the delimited wards. (iii) In the event of any variation of more
than the permissible limit specified in the relevant rules with regard to
specific wards in respect of the strength of the ward population, the same
shall be approved only with the specific orders of the Commission. (b)
The
size of the ward for Local Bodies shall be determined based on the population
of the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published. (c)
The
Commission shall authorize the District Delimitation Authority or any authority
designated by the Commission to cause the publication of the draft delimitation
order in the offices of the Local Body concerned and other public offices and
in local newspapers, if necessary, and invite public objections and suggestions
on the draft delimitation order. (d)
The
Commission directs the District Delimitation Authority or the officers
designated by the Commission to receive objections or suggestions, from
political parties and individuals alike on the draft delimitation order. (e)
Objections
or suggestions on the draft delimitation order shall be given to the
appropriate authority in person or by registered post. If any document is
intended to be produced along with the above, self attested copies of such
documents shall also be given and such documents shall not be returned. (f)
All
the objections or suggestions received shall be numbered and each objections or
suggestions shall be enquired into by the officers appointed for the said
purpose and the findings shall be recorded. (g)
If
the Commission or the designated authority is convinced that the service of
officers of other departments or experts are necessary for the disposal of any
objection or suggestion, it shall have the power to summon such officers of any
department under the Government for collecting such information. The officers
concerned are bound to obey the intimations received from the Commission or the
designated authority. (h)
The
Commission or the designated authority can summon any person as witness
relating to any objection or suggestion received and can request any person
including the person who has given the objection or the opposite party to
produce the connected documents or records before the Commission or the
designated authority. (i)
Upon
the receipt of any objection or suggestion regarding the fixing of boundary of
wards, the Commission or the designated authority shall verify the objection or
suggestion by conducting a hearing in person after collecting the information
from the Local Body concerned. (j)
The
District Delimitation Authority or any other Officer authorized by him for the
said purpose shall hear the parties and give direction to the relevant
Executive Authority of the Local Body to submit revised proposal recommending
the changes, if required, based on the findings and reasonableness of the
requests. (k)
The
revised proposals shall be consolidated after due verification by the District
Delimitation Authority and recommended to the Commission along with Certificate
of Verification as to the genuineness of the objections or suggestions. (l)
The
Commission shall, after scrutiny of all the proposals received from the
District Delimitation Authority, recommend the same to the Government for final
notification. Taking into consideration of the functions
enumerated in section 4 of the Act, the Commission shall have to perform its
functions on the final draft proposal on delimitation of territorial wards of
Local Bodies. The Commission shall after due examination and verification of
the correctness of the draft proposal of delimitation of wards, forward the
same with its recommendation thereon to the Government for publication of the
delimitation of territorial wards for Local Bodies, as required under the
respective Acts for the time being in force. (1)
When
cases relating to delimitation originates, wherein the Commission is a party,
in such cases, the Member-Secretary shall have the power to file affidavit
before the court. (2)
The
Commission shall have power to require any person to furnish any information on
such points or matters as in the opinion of the Commission may be useful for,
or relevant to, any matter under the consideration of the Commission. (3)
The
Commission shall issue such guidelines, as may be necessary for carrying out
the purpose of delimitation of territorial wards of Local Bodies, from time to
time. (1)
The
Commission shall appoint such number of employees for the efficient performance
of its functions and the Commission can utilise the service of the officers and
employees of the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission: (2)
The
Commission shall appoint retired officers and employees of the Tamil Nadu State
Election Commission and other departments who have good service record and
found eligible to carry out the activities of the Commission. (3)
The
Commission shall appoint, in consultation with the Government, any other
officers and employees, as it may deem fit, from various departments of the
Government on deputation. (1)
The
Member-Secretary shall give notice of meeting of the Commission to the members
well in advance. (2)
The
Member-Secretary shall convene the meeting of the Commission in the Commission
Headquarters or in any place in the State as so warranted. For the meeting of the Commission, there
shall be a quorum of minimum three members including the Chairman. Decisions of
the Commission shall, as far as possible, be unanimous. If there is a
difference of opinion among members, in any case, decision shall be taken in
accordance with the opinion of the majority. The Headquarters of the Commission shall be
the Office of the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission at Chennai. Besides,
Commission may conduct sitting at any place in the State as decided by the
Commission. The Commission shall issue such other
guidelines regarding fixing of boundaries of the territorial wards of Local
Body: Provided that nothing in those guidelines
shall be in conflict with these regulations regarding the basic principles and
criteria for delimitation of territorial wards of Local Bodies.TAMIL
NADU LOCAL BODIES DELIMITATION REGULATIONS, 2017
PREAMBLE