The Governor of Odisha, Professor Ganeshi Lal has given his assent to the Odisha Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, paving the way for the much-awaited elections to 114 urban local bodies (ULBs) including five municipal corporations and 48 municipalities in the State.
The State Law Department has issued a gazette notification in this regard.
As per the gazette notification, the maximum limit of reservation of seats has been kept at 50 per cent for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward class citizens in urban local bodies (ULBs).
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With the issuance of the notification, the responsibility has now been shifted to the Urban Development Department to initiate the election process.
As per sources, it will take at least two to three months for the civic authorities to finish the delimitation and reservation exercise based on which, the State Election Commission (SEC) has to prepare the electoral rolls and set the polls in process.
As Panchayat elections are round the corner, it is expected that the Municipal elections will be held in the second half of the next year.
Notably, the State has 61 Notified Area Councils (NAC). Elections to the civic bodies have not been held for three years after the expiry of the term of the elected bodies in September 2018.
(Edited by Ramakants Biswas)