(1) Every Gram Panchayat shall, at its first meeting at which a quorum is present, elect, in the prescribed manner, one of its members to be the Pradhan and another member to be the Upa-Pradhan of the Gram Panchayat.
(2) The meeting to be held under sub-section (1) shall be convened by the prescribed authority in the prescribed manner.
(3) The Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan shall, subject to the provisions of section 12 and to their continuing as members, hold office for a period of four years:
Provided that a Pradhan or an Upa-Pradhan shall continue in office after the expiry of the said period until a new Pradhan or Upa-Pradhan is elected and assumes office or until an authority, or a person or persons is or are appointed under the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 7.
(4) When—
(a) the office of the Pradhan falls vacant by reason of death, resignation, removal or otherwise, or
(b) the Pradhan is, by reason of leave, illness or other cause, • temporarily unable to act, the Upa-Pradhan shall exercise the powers, perform the functions and discharge the duties of the Pradhan until a new Pradhan is elected and assumes office or until the Pradhan resumes his dtities, as the case may be.
(5) When—
(a) the office of the Upa-Pradhan falls vacant by reason of death, resignation, removal or otherwise, or
(b) the Upa-Pradhan is, by reason of leave, illness or other cause, temporarily unable to act, the Pradhan shall exercise the powers, perform the functions and discharge the duties of the Upa-Pradhan until a new Upa-Pradhan is elected and assumes office or until the Upa-Pradhan resumes his duties, as the case may be.
272 The West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973.
XLI of 1973.]
(Part 11—Gram Panchayat.—Chapter 11.—Constitution of Gram Panchayat.—Sections 10, 11.)
(6) When the offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan are both vacant, or the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan are temporarily unable to act, the prescribed authority may appoint a Pradhan and an Upa-Pradhan from among the members of the Gram Panchayat to act as such until a Pradhan or an Upa-Pradhan is elected and assumes office.
(7) The Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan of a Gram Panchayat shall be entitled to leave of absence for such period or periods as may be prescribed.