(1) For every district the State Government shall constitute a District Planning Committee bearing the name of the district, except for the sub-division of Siliguri in the district of Darjeeling for which the State Government shall constitute a Planning Committee to be called Siliguri Sub-division Planning Committee.
(2) Subject to such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf, the State Government shall, by notification, determine the number of members of a Committee including—
(a) the number of, such members to be elected by, and from amongst, the elected members of the Zilla Parishad:
Provided that no Sabhadhipati of a Zilla Parishad shall be elected under this clause, West Ben.
Act XLI of
1973.
226 The West Bengal District Planning Committee Act, 1994.
XX of 1994.]
(Section 3.)
(b) the number of such members to be elected by, and from amongst, the elected members, by whatever name called, of all the Municipalities within the district or, in the case of the sub-division of Siliguri in the district of Darjeeling, of all the Municipalities within that sub-division:
Provided that no Chairperson of a Municipality shall be elected under this clause, and
(c) the number of such members, not exceeding one-fifth of the total number of members of the Committee, as may be appointed by the State Government under sub-section (3):
Provided that the ratio between the number of members of a Committee and the sum total of the rural population and the urban population in district, or, in the case of the sub-division of Siliguri, in the district of Darjeeling, in that sub-division shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout West Bengal:
Provided furthdr that four-fifths of the total number of members of a Committee shall not exceed the total number of elected members of the Zilla Parishad:
Provided also that the number of members referred to in clause (a) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the number of members, referred to in clause (b), as the population of the rural areas bear to the population of the urban areas in the district or, in the case of the sub-division of Siliguri in the district of Darjeeling, in that sub-division.
(3) Subject to the provisions of clause (c) of sub-section (2), the State Government shall, by notification, appoint the members referred to therein, and such members shall include—
(a) the Sabhadhipati of the Zilla Parishad,
(b) the District Magistrate of the district, and
(c) such other members as the State Government may think fit to choose from amongst—
(i) the Sabhapatis of the Panchayat Samitis within the district,
(ii) the members of the House of the People and the Legislative Assembly of the State elected thereto from a constituency comprising any part of the district, not being Ministers,
(iii) the officers of the State Government or of any statutory body or corporation deemed by the State Government to have specialised knowledge, 227 The West Bengal District Planning Committee Act, 1994.
[West Ben. Act (Sections 4, 5.)
(iv) the Chairpersons of the Municipalities within the district or, in the case of the sub-division of Siliguri in the district of Darjeeling, within that sub-division, and
(v) the economists and social and political workers of eminence.
Chairperson, Vice- Chairperson and Secretary of Committee.
Elections.