The Delimitation of Wards of Municipalities Rules, 1972

Rule - 1. Short title and commencement.--

(1)     These orders may be called the Delimitation of Wards of Municipalities Rules, 1972.

(2)     They shall come into force at once.

Rule - 2. Definitions.--

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires :-

(a)      'Act' means the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911;

(b)      'associate member' means a member associated under sub-rule (2) of Rule 3;

(c)      'Board' means a Delimitation Board constituted under rule 3;

(d)      'Director' means the Director, Local Government Department, Punjab;

(e)      'Government' means the Government of the State of Punjab is Local Government Department.

[1] [(f) "Sub-Divisional Officer" means the Sub- Divisional Officer (Civil) of the concerned Sub-division,]

Rule - 3. Constitution of Board.--

(1)     For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of these rules, the Government shall constitute a Delimitation Board for each Municipality consisting of the following members namely :-

[2] [(i) The Deputy Commissioner of the District in which the Municipal Council/Nagar Panchayat is situated or any other Officer nominated by him in this behalf;

[(i)(a) member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly representing the concerned Municipality.][3]

(ii)?? ?Sub-Divisional Officer;

(iii)? ?The Deputy Director, Local Government of the region concerned;

(iv)? ?The President or Administrator of the Municipal Council or Nagar Panchayat concerned; and

(v) ???Executive Officer of the Municipal Council or Nagar Panchayat concerned.]

[(vi) ?One member nominated by the Government by notification.][4]

[(2) The Board shall associate with itself for the purpose of assisting it in its day to day functioning not more than five members of a Municipality having due regard to the representation of various political parties and groups in the composition of the Municipality. The names of the associate members shall be sponsored to the Director by the Executive Officer of the concerned Municipality in consultation with the concerted Deputy Commissioner. This provision shall however, not apply in the case of a dissolved Municipality.][5]

Rule - 4. Functions of the Board.--

It shall be the duty of the Board -

[6] [(i) to divide the Municipality into such number of wards as may be necessary having regard to the number of elected members determined by the State Government, for the [7] [Municipality], and the number of seats reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and women.]

(ii)? ?to re-adjust the wards as and when the limits of the Municipality are altered or there is increase in population of the Municipality or there is abnormal variation in population or voting figures of some of the wards of the Municipality, which requires, such re-adjustment.

Rule - 5. Procedure and Powers of the Board.--

(1)     None of the associate members shall have a right to vote or to sign any decision of the Board.

(2)     The meetings of the Board shall be convened by the Director, after giving notice of at least [three days][8] of the date, time and place of the meeting to all of its members.

(3)     The quorum necessary for the transaction of business at a meeting of the Board shall be [four][9].

(4)     All questions which come before any meeting of the Board shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting. The Chairman of the meeting, in case of an equality of votes, shall have a second or casting vote.

(5)     The Board shall have power to act notwithstanding the temporary absence of a member, or an associate member, or of the existence of a vacancy in the Board, and no act or proceeding of the Board shall be invalid or called in question on the ground merely of temporary absence of a member or associate member, or of the existence of such a vacancy.

[10] [(6) The Sub-Divisional Officer shall be the Chairman of the Board. In his absence, the members present shall elect One member who shall preside over the meeting of the Board as its Chairman.]

Rule - 6. Principles for delimitation of wards of Municipality.--

The following principles shall be observed by the Board in the delimination of wards of a Municipality, namely:-

[11] [(a) All wards shall as far as practicable, be geographically compact areas, and in delimiting them due regard shall be had to physical features, existing boundaries of administrative units, if any, facilities of communication and public convenience;

(b)?? ?Each Municipality shall be divided into wards in such manner that the population of each ward, as far as practicable, is the same throughout the Municipality, with a variation upto ten per-cent, above or below the average population figures;

(c)? ?Wards in which seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, shall be located, as far as practicable, in those areas where the proportion of their population to the total population of the Municipality is the larges and such seats shall be allocated by rotation to different wards in the Municipality.]

(d) ??Seats numbers reserved for women (including number of seats reserved for women, if any, belonging to Scheduled Castes) by Government, shall be kept reserved for women and such seats shall be allotted by rotation to different wards in the Municipality; and

(e) ??One seat reserved for Backward Classes by Government, shall be kept reserved for the Backward Classes which shall be located where their population in the Municipality is the larges and such seat shall be allotted by rotation to different wards in the Municipality.

[12] [(f) In every municipality, the Delimitation Board, while drafting the scheme for Delimitation of Wards, shall allot number to all wards having due regard to the principle of constitution.]

Explanation. - In this rule, the expression "population" means the population as ascertained locally through the staff deputed by the Director, by going from door to door in the Municipality.

Rule - 7. Scheme for delimitation of wards to be sent to State Government.--

The Board shall, as soon as may be after it has prepared the scheme for the delimitation of wards of the Municipality, send the same to the State Government for consideration.

Rule - 8. Publication of scheme for delimitation of wards.--

The State Government shall:-

(a)      publish in the official gazette the scheme for the delimitation of wards received by it under rule 7 for eliciting objections or suggestions from the affected persons of the Municipality,

(b)      specify a date on or after which the scheme alongwith objections and suggestions, if any, will be considered by it;

(c)      consider all objections and suggestions which may have been received by it before the date so specified; and

(d)      thereafter, by order determine the delimitation of wards of the Municipality.

Rule - 9. Publication of final order of State Government.--

The State Government shall cause its order made in the form of final notification under these rules to be published in the Official Gazette, and upon such publication every such order shall have the force of law.

[13] [Provided that before the start of the election process, the State Government may, for good and sufficient reasons, to be recorded in writing, review the order made in the form of final notification after inviting objections or suggestions in writing from the public through the public notice in two newspaper having circulation in the locality in respect of all or any of the wards. After considering such objections or suggestions the State Government may supersede the previous order made in the form of final notification directly or after obtaining the opinion of the Board.]

Rule - 10. Correction of printing mistakes in order made by State Government.--

The State Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, correct any printing mistake in any of the orders made by it, or any error occurring therein due to an inadvertent slip or omission.