Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2026 has been enacted, introducing major changes to the constitution of municipal councils, ward delimitation, reservation of seats and preparation of municipal voters’ lists.
The amendment was passed by the Goa Legislative Assembly on September 1 and received the assent of the Governor on September 5.
One of the key changes is the increase in the population threshold used to determine the number of municipal seats. The threshold has been raised from 2,500 to 3,000, while population of the municipal area will now be used instead of the number of voters for the relevant calculations.
The amendment has also revised the provision relating to reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The earlier wording stating that the proportion “shall be twenty-seven percent” has been replaced with wording that it “may be twenty-seven percent”.
A new provision has been introduced to address fractions while determining reserved seats. Fractions below one-half will be ignored, while fractions of one-half or more will be counted as one.
The amended Act lays down a detailed process for delimitation of municipal wards. Once the State Election Commission (SEC) issues an order fixing the number of wards for a municipal area and publishes it in the Official Gazette, the delimitation exercise will have to be completed within 60 days.
The SEC will then prepare and publish a draft delimitation proposal in the Official Gazette. The public will have 30 days from the date of publication to submit objections and suggestions. After considering the representations, the Commission, in consultation with the Government, will issue the final delimitation notification within 30 days from the last date for filing objections and suggestions.
The amended law also provides for empirical data relating to political backwardness to be obtained from the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes for the respective municipal areas and wards. Based on the final delimitation, the SEC will publish a draft reservation notification and invite objections and suggestions from the public for 30 days.
After considering the representations, the SEC, in consultation with the Government, will publish the final reservation notification within 30 days from the last date for submitting representations.
After 30 days have elapsed from the publication of the final reservation notification, the SEC can declare elections to the concerned municipal areas. Each ward will elect only one councillor.
The law also changes the procedure for preparing municipal voters’ lists. The Goa Legislative Assembly electoral roll applicable to the constituency, or portion of a constituency, falling within a municipal area will be divided into different wards. The ward-wise lists will collectively be treated as the municipal voters’ list.
At least 30 days before the date of the election notification, copies of the ward-wise voters’ lists must be made available for public inspection at the municipal office and at other locations in the municipal area as fixed by the SEC.
The amendment also repeals the Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, while protecting actions already taken under the earlier ordinance by treating them as having been taken under the amended Goa Municipalities Act.
