‘Aparajita’ Shukla THE State Government is preparing to push urban bodies’ based reforms through fiveday winter session of the Legislative Assembly, going to start from Monday. In this very short session, the house will see presentation of two crucial bills pertaining to urban bodies and Supplementary budget. Opposition Congress legislators are all set to press the issue of farmers’ plight and unemployment in this session. The Government is introducing Madhya Pradesh Municipal Council Second Amendment Bill, 2025 for discussion in this session.

 

These two bills being introduced by the Government will impact the State’s urban bodies and business establishments. Now, the public will directly elect chairperson of municipal councils in the State. This amendment bill will be discussed in the session. The amendment bill relates to election of the presidents of municipalities and city councils in the State.

 

Following this amendment, presidents of municipal corporations and municipal councils in Madhya Pradesh will be directly elected by the public. If public is dissatisfied with the president’s performance, they will also have the right to recall them. Congress gears up for a fiveday Assembly session in Madhya Pradesh, MLAs summoned to Bhopal to strategise. On Sunday, Congress legislators meeting was held at 74 Bungalow. From 1999 to 2014, voters in Madhya Pradesh elected municipal body presidents.

 

However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, municipal body elections were postponed in 2019. In 2022, the Government began conducting municipal council president elections through an indirect system. The State Government is also amending Shops and Establishments Act, 1956. After this amendment, registration process of opening a shop, hotel, restaurant, or any other business entity in the State will be online and applicants can apply on their own through the Labour Department’s website.

 

There is also a proposal to raise the registration fee. The new amendment will make it mandatory for shopkeepers to provide one day off per week to workers employed at their establishments. The State Government will present its second supplementary budget during the Assembly session. This budget will be Rs 10,000 crore. Heavy security measures are in place surrounding the Assembly complex. This time, ban on legislators holding protests in the Assembly premises before the session has also been lifted.

 

Total 2,500 police personnel have been deployed for security arrangements in view of the Assembly session.