Maharashtra Cabinet Approves Ordinance Granting Voting Rights to Directly Elected Civic Chiefs

Overview

• The cabinet cleared an ordinance to amend the 1965 municipal law so directly elected presidents become voting members of municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
• Under the change, a president will cast one vote as a member and hold a casting vote to break ties.
• District Karmayogi Programme 2.0 and Sarpanch Samvad will be implemented through MITRA to train about 85,000 officials to strengthen local governance and government-to-business services.
• Training for 20,000 sarpanches will run under a QCI–MITRA–VSTF agreement covering financial autonomy, scheme execution, long-term planning, and women’s empowerment via e-learning and workshops.
• Divisional commissioners were empowered to regularise 291 bonded nurses appointed before April 15, 2015, and one acre in Dharashiv was allotted for a statue of social reformer Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe.