West Bengal Scheduled Castes Advisory Council Act, 2017
No: 29 Dated: Sep, 13 2017
THE WEST BENGAL SCHEDULED CASTES ADVISORY COUNCIL ACT, 2017
West Bengal Act XXIX of 2017
An Act to constitute an Advisory Council for the Scheduled Castes and to provide formatters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Whereas it is expedient to constitute an Advisory Council for the Scheduled Castes and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;
It is hereby enacted as follows-
CHAPTER-I
Preliminary
1. Short title and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal Scheduled Castes Advisory Council Act, 2017.
(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Council;
(b) "Council" means the West Bengal Scheduled Castes Advisory Council;
(c) "member" means a member of the Council and includes the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson;
(d) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(e) "regulations" means the regulations made by the Council under section 14;
(f) "rules" means the rules made by the State Government under section 13;
(g) "Scheduled Castes" shall have the same meaning as defined in clause (24) of article 366 of the Constitution;
(h) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Council;
(i) "State Government" means the Government of West Bengal in the Backward Classes Welfare Department;
(j) "Vice-Chairperson" means the Vice-Chairperson of the Council.
CHAPTER-II
West Bengal Scheduled Castes Advisory Council
3. Constitution of the Council. - (1) The State Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a body to be known as the West Bengal Scheduled Castes Advisory Council, to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to it, under this Act.
(2) The Council shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and not more than seventeen other members.
(3) The Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal shall be the ex officio Chairperson and Member of the Council.
(4) The Minister-in-charge, Backward Classes Welfare Department, shall be the ex officio Vice-Chairperson and member of the Council. In the absence of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside over the meeting.
(5) In addition to Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, there shall be-
(a) one Member of Parliament from a Scheduled Castes constituency in West Bengal;
(b) not more than ten Scheduled Castes representatives of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly;
(c) not more than four members having special knowledge and experience of the needs and problems of the Scheduled Castes; and
(d) not more than two members, to be nominated by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette.
(6) The Commissioner of the Backward Classes Welfare and Tribal Development Directorate, shall be the Secretary to the Council.
(7) (a) The Chief Secretary, West Bengal and the Principal Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare Department, shall be permanent invitee members in the Council.
(b) The Chairperson may invite persons to participate in the deliberations of the meetings.
(c) The Council shall, unless earlier dissolved by the Governor, be coterminous with the tenure of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and shall be reconstituted as soon as possible after each General Election.
4. Terms of office and conditions of service and determination of allowances of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other members. - (1) The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and every member shall hold office for such period not exceeding five years.
(2) The Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and every member may, by writing under his hand addressed to the State Government, resign from the office of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and member, as the case may be.
(3) The State Government shall remove a person from the office of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson or a member, if such person-
(a) becomes an undischarged insolvent;
(b) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which, in the opinion of the State Government, involves moral turpitude;
(c) becomes an unsound mind and so declared by a competent court;
(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting;
(e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the Council, absent from three consecutive meetings of the Council;
(f) has, in the opinion of the State Government, so abused the position of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson or member as to render that person's continuance in office detrimental to the public interest:
Provided that no person shall be removed under these clauses until such person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
(4) A vacancy caused due to removal of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson or member for any of the grounds mentioned in sub-section (3), shall be filled by fresh nomination and a person so nominated shall hold office for the un-expired period of the term for which his predecessors in office would have held office if such vacancy had not arisen.
5. Allowances. - For attending a meeting of the Council, the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and other members shall be entitled to travelling and sitting allowances at such rate as may be specified in the regulations made by the Council.
6. Secretarial Service to the Council. - The Backward Classes Welfare and Tribal Development Directorate shall provide the secretarial support to the Council for its functioning.
7. Vacancy, etc. not to invalidate the proceedings of the Council. - No act or proceedings of the Council shall be invalid merely on the ground of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the Council.