Assam: Tenure Of Women's Reservation In Local Bodies Extended By 10 Years

Assam women reservation: Seats reserved for women in local bodies in Assam will be extended by a tenure of 10 years, via the amendment to laws. This was decided by the Assam state cabinet on December 10. The move has been made in an effort to increase the representation of women in municipal bodies.

The cabinet meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, during which it was decided to amend the laws of the Assam Municipal Act of 1956 and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act of 1969. The decision was was announced by the State Minister for Water Resources Pijush Hazarika.

This decision is with regard to the upcoming urban body and municipal elections scheduled in February and April 2022. In November this year, the Assam CM had proposed to hold elections of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) in April 2022. This has been pending since 2018.

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Before the Assam Assembly Elections of 2021, the Women's Manifesto 2021 was prepared by five organisations--North East Network, Purba Bharati Educational Trust, Women in Governance, Women's Leadership Training Centre (WLTC) and Xobdo-- that demanded gender equality and raised the issues faced by women. The WLTC member Banamallika Choudhury said that the elected representative must ensure 33 percent reservation for women candidates in the Legislative Assembly and the Women Reservation Bill to be passed immediately.

The Assam CM while attending a Mahila Morcha on December 5 had also talked about the reservation of seats for women candidates, saying that in wards where the women candidates win, there the seat will be reserved for 10 years.

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While also deciding to amend the Assam Jail Rules of 1989 that will change the minimum educational qualification required for the post of female warden under the Directorate of Prisons to High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC). According to the current rules, the academic qualification required for female warders is "passed class eight or equivalent examination."

The cabinet has agreed on a proposal for establishing the Assam Agroforestry Development Board to incentivise farmers to take to planting trees in their land. This is to establish a partnership between farmers, industry and other stakeholders.