3. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any rural area to be an urban area: Provided that notwithstanding the declaration of a rural area to be an urban area, the Union Parishad which immediately before such declaration exercised any function in relation to that area shall, until the area is declared to be, or to be included in, a municipality, continue to exercise those functions. (2) The Government shall not declare any rural area to be an urban area unless it is satisfied that three-fourths of the adult male population of the area to which it refers are chiefly employed in pursuits other than agriculture, and such area contains not less than fifteen thousand population, and an average number of not less than two thousand inhabitants per square mile ¹[: Provided that the Government may, for the purpose of extension of the limits of a municipality under section 4(b), declare any rural area to be an urban area, if it is satisfied that three-fourths of the adult male population of such area are chiefly employed in pursuits other than agriculture.]

4. The Government may, in the prescribed manner,-(a) declare any urban area, other than a cantonment, to be a municipality;(b) extend, curtail or otherwise alter the limits of any municipality; and(c) declare that any urban area shall, from a date to be specified, cease to be a municipality.

²[4A. Every municipality shall be an administrative unit for the purpose of Article 59 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.]

5. (1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Ordinance, there shall be constituted a Paurashava for every municipality in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance. (2) Every Paurashava shall be a body corporate, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to the provisions of this Ordinance and the rules, to acquire and hold property, both movable and immovable, and shall by its name sue and be sued. (3) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, specify the name by which any Paurashava shall be known, and unless the name of a Paurashava is so specified, it shall be known as the Paurashava of the place where its office is situated ³[.] ⁴[* * *]

6. ⁵[(1) A Paurashava shall consist of-(a) a Chairman;(b) such number of ⁶[* * *] commissioners as may be fixed by the Government; and ⁷[(bb) such number of commissioners as are exclusively reserved for women under sub-section (3).] ⁸[* * *]] (2) ⁹[ ¹⁰[The] Chairman and Commissioners] of a Paurashava shall be elected by direct election on the basis of adult franchise in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance and the rules made thereunder ¹¹[. [* * *]] ¹²[(3) There shall be one-third reserved seats exclusively for woman of such number of commissioners as are fixed by the Government under clause (b) of sub-section (1) in each Paurashava, hereinafter referred to as reserved seats, who shall be elected by direct election on the basis of adult franchise in accordance with the provision of this Ordinance and the rules made thereunder: Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall prevent a woman from being elected to any of the seats other than reserved seats.] (4) The Chairman of a Paurashava shall be deemed to be a commissioner of the Paurashava. (5) There shall be paid to the ¹³[Chairman and commissioners] of a Paurashava such honorarium as may be prescribed. (6) [Omitted by section 4 of the Paurashava (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 1984 (Ordinance No. LXIII of 1984).]

7. ¹⁵[ ¹⁶[(1) The term of a Paurashava shall be a period of five years commencing on the day of its first meeting after its constitution: Provided that notwithstanding the expiration of its term, a Paurashava shall continue to function until the publication of election schedule for reconstituting the Paurashava to succeed it.] ¹⁷[* * * ] ¹⁸[(1AA) Where the election schedule for reconstituting a Paurashava is published, the Paurashava shall cease to exist and the functions of the Paurashava shall, until the holding of the first meeting of the Paurashava constituted to succeed it, be performed by the Thana Nirbahi Officer or Additional Deputy Commissioner concerned as the Government may appoint in this behalf.] (1B) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance, a Paurashava shall be deemed to have been duly constituted after the election of seventy five per cent of the total number of its ¹⁹[Commissioners ²⁰[* * *]] has taken place. Explanation.- For calculating the seventy five per cent of the total number of ²¹[* * *] Commissioners, less than point five zero per cent shall be ignored and point five zero and above per cent shall be rounded off into a whole number.] (2) A Paurashava shall, after its constitution, hold its first meeting on such date, not later than thirty days from the day on which the names of its Chairman and commissioners are notified in the official Gazette, as may be appointed by the Prescribed Authority.

8. Every Chairman and commissioner of a Paurashava shall, before he enters upon his office, make in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed period, an oath in the prescribed form.

9. Every Chairman and commissioner of a Paurashava shall, before he enters upon his office, submit to the Prescribed Authority in such manner as the Government may direct, a declaration in writing of properties, both movable and immovable, whether within or outside Bangladesh, which he or any member of his family owns, or which he has in his possession or under his control, or in which he or any member of his family has any beneficial interest. Explanation.- In this section, the expression “member of his family”, in relation to a person, includes-(a) the spouse of such person, and(b) such of the children, parents, brothers and sisters as reside with and are wholly dependent upon such person.

10. (1) A person shall, subject to the provisions of ²²[sub-section (2), be qualified to be elected as, and to be, a Chairman or a Commissioner], if-(a) he or she is a citizen of Bangladesh;(b) he or she has attained the age of twenty-five years; and(c) his or her name appears on the electoral roll for any ward in the Paurashava. (2) A person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a Chairman or ²³[a Commissioner,] if- ²⁴[ ²⁵[* * * ](aa) he or she is declared by a competent Court to be of unsound mind;](b) he or she is an undischarged insolvent;(c) he or she has ceased to be a citizen of Bangladesh or has acquired the citizenship of, or affirmed or acknowledged allegiance to, a foreign state;(d) he or she has been,-(i) on conviction for any offence, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years; or(ii) on conviction for any offence relating to corruption or criminal misconduct, sentenced to imprisonment for any term, unless a period of five years, or such less period as the Government may allow in any particular case, has elapsed since his or her release;(e) he or she holds any whole-time office of profit in the service of the Republic or of the Paurashava concerned or of any other local authority; or(f) he or she is a party to a contract for work to be done for, or goods to be supplied to, the Paurashava concerned, or has otherwise any pecuniary interest in its affairs, or is a dealer, for any area within the municipality concerned, in essential commodities appointed by the Government ²⁶[;(g) he or she has defaulted in repaying any loan taken by him or her from any specified bank within the time allowed by the bank therefore. Explanation.- For the purposes of clause (g), “specified bank” means the Sonali Bank, the Agrani Bank and the Janata Bank constituted under the Bangladesh Banks (Nationalisation) Order, 1972 (P.O. No. 26 of 1972), the Shilpa Rin Sangstha established under the Shilpa Rin Sangstha Order, 1972 (P.O. No. 128 of 1972), the Bangladesh Shilpa Bank established under the Bangladesh Shilpa Bank Order, 1972 (P.O. No. 129 of 1972), the House Building Finance Corporation established under the House Building Finance Corporation Order, 1973 (P.O. No. 7 of 1973), the Krishi Bank established under the Krishi Bank Order, 1973 (P.O. No. 27 of 1973), the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh established under the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh Ordinance, 1976 (XL of 1976), the Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank established under the Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank Ordinance, 1986 (LVIII of 1986), and the Rupali Bank limited] ²⁷[;(h) he or she is a member of Parliament] ²⁸[;(i) he or she is a defaulter in paying any of the taxes, rates, tolls or fees levied under this Ordinance;(j) he or she has been dismissed from the service of the Republic or of any local authority for misconduct involving moral turpitude and a period of five years has not elapsed since his or her dismissal.] ²⁹[(3) For the purposes of this section, a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit in the service of the Republic by reason only that he is a Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister, Minister of State, Deputy Minister, Chief Whip or Whip.]

11. (1) A person shall not, at the same time, be a candidate for election to the offices of Chairman and ³⁰[* * *] commissioner or to more than one office of ³¹[* * *] commissioner. (2) If a person offers himself, at the same time, to be a candidate for election to more than one office in any Paurashava, all his nomination papers shall stand void. ³²[(3) When the office of Chairman falls vacant during the term of the Paurashava, a commissioner may contest the election to the office of Chairman, and if he is elected, his commissionership shall cease on the date he makes the oath of office of Chairman.]

12. (1) A commissioner may resign his office by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Chairman. (2) A Chairman may resign his office by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Prescribed Authority. (3) A resignation under this section shall become effective and the office concerned shall become vacant, on the date on which the notice of resignation is received by the addressee.

13. (1) A Chairman or ³³[a Commissioner] shall render himself liable to removal from his office if-(a) he, without reasonable excuse, absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the Paurashava;(b) he is convicted for any offence relating to corruption, criminal misconduct or prejudicial or anti-state activity;(c) he refuses to perform or becomes disabled from performing his functions; or(d) he is guilty of misconduct or is responsible for any loss or misapplication of money or property of the Paurashava. Explanation.- In this sub-section, “misconduct” means misuse of power, corruption, jobbery, favouritism, nepotism and wilful maladministration and includes any attempt at, or abetment of, such misconduct. (2) A Chairman or ³⁴[a Commissioner] shall not be removed from his office on any ground mentioned in clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (1) unless the Prescribed Authority declares, ³⁵[* * *] by an order, that he is liable to be so removed: Provided that no such declaration shall be made unless the Chairman or commissioner concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the declaration proposed to be made with respect to him. (3) A Chairman or ³⁶[a Commissioner] shall not be removed from his office on any ground mentioned in clauses (c) and (d) of sub-section (1) unless, at a special meeting of the Paurashava called for the purpose in the prescribed manner, a resolution to the effect that he is liable to be so removed is passed by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the ³⁷[total number of ³⁸[ Commissioners]] of the Paurashava and unless the resolution is approved by the Prescribed Authority: Provided that no such resolution shall be passed unless the Chairman or commissioner concerned has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the resolution proposed to be passed with respect to him. (4) A Chairman or ³⁹[a Commissioner] shall stand removed from his office as soon as a declaration under sub-section (2) is made or a resolution passed under sub-section (3) is approved by the Prescribed Authority. ⁴⁰[* * *] (5) [Omitted by section 7 of the Paurashava (Third Amendment) Act, 1992 (Act No. LII of 1992).] (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Ordinance, a person who has been removed from any office under this section shall not, during the unexpired period of the term of the Paurashava concerned, be eligible for election ⁴¹[* * * ] to that Paurashava.

14. (1) The office of Chairman or ⁴²[a Commissioner] shall become vacant if-(a) he becomes disqualified for being such Chairman or commissioner under section 10(2); ⁴³[* * *](b) he fails to make the oath referred to in section 8 within the prescribed period, unless the prescribed Authority for good cause shown extends the period;(c) he resigns his office under section 12;(d) he is removed from his office under section 13; or(e) he dies. (1A) [Omitted by section 7 of the Paurashava (Amendment) Ordinance, 1984 (Ordinance No. XI of 1984).] (2) [Omitted by section 8 of the Paurashava (Third Amendment) Act, 1992 (Act No. LII of 1992).]

15. (1) Where the office of a commissioner becomes vacant not later than one hundred and eighty days before the term of the Paurashava is due to expire, an election ⁴⁴[* * *] to fill the office shall be held ⁴⁵[* * *] within sixty days of the occurrence of the vacancy, and the person who is elected in such election ⁴⁶[* * *] shall hold office for the residue of such term. (2) Where the office of Chairman becomes vacant before the term of the Paurashava is due to expire, an election to fill the office shall be held within one month of the occurrence of such vacancy, and the person who is elected in such election shall hold office for the residue of such term.

16. A Paurashava may grant leave of absence to its Chairman for any period not exceeding three months in any one year.

⁴⁷[17. (1) Within one month of the first meeting held after the constitution of a Paurashava, a panel of three Chairmen shall be elected, in order of preference, by the commissioners from amongst themselves. (2) While the office of Chairman is vacant or the Chairman is on leave or under suspension, the functions of his office shall be performed by the Commissioner whose name is highest in the panel of Chairman in order of preference.]

⁴⁸[18. An election, resignation, removal or vacation of office of a Chairman and commissioner shall be notified in the official Gazette by the Prescribed Authority.]

18B. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance, where a rural area, after being declared an urban area, is included in a municipality, the person elected as Chairman or member from that area to any Union Parishad, shall be deemed to be a commissioner of the Paurashava of that municipality.]

⁴⁹[18A. (1) Where an urban area is declared to be a municipality, the Government shall appoint an Administrator to perform the functions of the Paurashava of that municipality till a Paurashava is constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance. (2) The Government may, where necessary, appoint a Committee consisting of such number of members as it deems fit to assist the Administrator in the discharge of his functions. (3) The Administrator and the members of the Committee, if any, shall respectively exercise the powers of the Chairman and of the Commissioners.