Direct election of local body chiefs to be scrapped in Tamilnadu

A Bill has been introduced in the TN Assembly to empower councilors to elect the chairpersons in all local bodies in the State.

Why go for indirect election?

It was recently brought to the notice of the government that in certain circumstances, the chairmen do not get the cooperation of councilors and vice-versa and thereby, there have been impediments in the proceedings of councils and to arrive at consensus in passing resolutions to provide civic services to the public.

Hence, in order to have uniform election procedures in all the urban local bodies in the State, the government has proposed to elect the Chairman of the Municipalities and Town Panchayats indirectly by the councilors or members from among themselves, as the case may be.

Background:

In June this year, the State government had introduced and eventually passed a Bill that scrapped the direct election of Mayors in Municipal Corporations and enabled councillors to elected one of them as Mayor for the Municipal Corporation.