Reservation pattern notified for urban bodies of Sikkim


Sikkim Express:


GANGTOK, December 3: The State Election Commission has notified the reservation of seats in the three tier urban local body of Sikkim. The reservation as declared under section 15 of Sikkim Municipalities Act, 2007 for seats in Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat within the State of Sikkim.
As per the reservation pattern, 19 seats have been reserved for women in the 47 municipality wards across the State making it a 40 percent reservation for women as per the promise made by the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) in the election manifesto. (See table)

Seven seats have been reserved for BL community which translates into 14 percent reservation while six seats have been reserved for the Limboo Tamang communities.
It may be recalled that the State cabinet had on June 10 earlier this year approved 22 percent reservation for Bhutia-Lepcha communities within the State for both Panchayat and Municipalities bodies. The seats in both the Panchayat and urban bodies will be reserved as BL seats, the cabinet decided.
Seats have also been reserved for OBCs and MBCs in the urban bodies.
Thirteen seats have been left unreserved for the general community which translates in 27 percent as general seats.

As already reported, Gangtok has been designated as Gangtok Municipal Corporation with 15 wards – Burtuk, Lower Sichey, Upper Sichey, Chandmari, Development Area, DPH area, Arithang, Lower MG Marg, Upper MG Marg, Tibet Road, Deorali, Dara Gaon, Tadong, Ranipool and Syari-Tathangchen.
The South district headquarters Namchi has been designated as a municipal council with seven wards-Gangyap, Dambudara, Upper Ghurpisey, Lower Ghurpisey, Upper Boomtar, Upper Singithang and Purano Namchi.
The urban areas of Singtam and Rangpo in East Sikkim, Jorethang in South Sikkim, Geyzing in West Sikkim and Mangan in North Sikkim have been designated as Nagar Panchayats.

There are five wards in Singtam-Pipal Dara, Daragaon, Mandir Line, Lall Bazaar and Chisopani. Similarly, Majhitar, Mining, Mandi Bazaar, Rangpo Upper Bazaar and Chanatar are the five wards in Rangpo.
Jorethang Nagar Panchayat has Santinagar, Trikaleshwar, Daragaon, Majhigaon East and Majhigaon West as its wards while Geyzing Nagar Panchayat has five wards-Tikjuk, Kyongsa, Nayabazaar, Central Geyzing and New Geyzing.
The North Sikkim headquarters Mangan which has been designated as Nagar Panchayat has five wards-Upper Mangan Bazaar, Pentok, Power Colony, Rinzing Namgyal and Lower Mangan Bazaar.

It may be added here that municipal bodies in Sikkim are on the process of making a comeback after nearly three decades. Only Gangtok in the State had a municipal corporation for a brief period in the past in the early 1980s and was discontinued after a brief spell.
In this full-fledged comeback, the municipal elections in Sikkim also usher in more women empowerment in the State. The State government had last year enacted legislation, Sikkim Municipalities (Second Amendment) Bill which provided forty percent reservation to women in urban local bodies and has been translated into action with the reservation pattern.


RESERVATION OF SEATS IN MUNICIPALITIES

Sl.

No
Name of Municipality with Unit No.

(1)
Municipality Wards and Seats

(2)
Reservation

SC ST ST OBC MBC Others
1 1 Gangtok Municipal Corporation BL LT
1
Burtuk LT
2
Lower Sichey OBC(W)
3
Upper Sichey SC(W)
4
Chandmari BL
5
Development Area MBC
6
D.P.H. Area UR
7
Arithang MBC(W)
8
Lower M.G.Marg UR
9
Upper M.G.Marg UR(W)
10
Tibet Road BL(W)
11
Deorali MBC
12
Dara Gaon OBC
13
Tadong OBC
14
Ranipool LT
15 Syari-Tathangchen BL

2 2 Singtam Nagar

Panchayat


1


Pipal Dara


OBC(W)

2
Daragaon UR
3
Mandir Line UR(W)
4
Lall Bazar UR
5
Chisopani LT(W)


3 3 Rangpo Nagar Panchayat 1
Majhitar OBC
2
Mining MBC
3
Mandi Bazar SC
4
Rangpo Upper Bazar UR
5
Chanatar UR(W)

4 4 Namchi Municipal Council 1
Gangyap UR
2
Dambudara OBC(W)
3
Upper Ghurpisey BL
4
Lower Ghurpisey MBC(W)
5
Upper Boomtar LT
6
Upper Singitang UR(W)
7
Purano Namchi MBC

5 5 Jorethang Nagar Panchayat 1
Santinagar UR
2
Trikaleshwar OBC
3
Daragaon SC
4
Majhigaon East LT(W)
5
Majhigaon West MBC(W)

6 6 Geyzing Nagar Panchayat 1
Tikjuk BL(W)
2
Kyongsa MBC
3
Nayabazar UR
4
Central Geyzing LT(W)
5
New Geyzing OBC

7 7 Mangan Nagar Panchayat 1
Upper Mangan Baqzaar BL
2
Pentok BL(W)
3
Power Colony OBC(W)
4
Rinzing Namgyal UR(W)
5
Lower Managan Bazaar MBC