Section 9(1) in The West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973
(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:[Provided that the members referred to in clause (ii) of sub-section (2A) of section 4] [Proviso inserted by W.B. Act 17 of 1992.] [shall neither participate in, nor be eligible for, such election:] [Words substituted for the words 'shall not be eligible for such election,' by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided further that subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf by the State Government, a member shall not be eligible for such election unless he declares in writing that on being elected, he shall be a wholetime functionary of his office and that during the period for which he holds or is due to hold such office, he shall not hold any office of profit unless he has obtained leave of absence from his place of employment or shall not carry on or be associated with any business, profession or calling in such manner that shall or is likely to interfere with due exercise of his powers, performance of his functions or due discharge of his duties:] [Proviso inserted by W.B. Act 15 of 1997.][Provided also that after being elected to the office of a full time office bearer, he shall be allowed lien or leave of absence from the place of his employment for his full tenure in the office of the Pradhan with effect from the date of his joining to such office by the Department or authority or undertaking or aided institution of the State Government under which he holds his office of profit:] [Proviso Inserted by Act No. 5 of 2014, dated 31.3.2014.][ [(Provided also)] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.] that subject to such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf, the offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in such manner that the number of offices so reserved at the time of any general election shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such offices within a district as the population of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, in all the Blocks within such district taken together bears with the total population in the same area, and such offices shall be subject to allocation by rotation in the manner prescribed:][Provided also that the offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan in any Gram Panchayat having the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes population, as the case may be, constituting not more than five per cent of the total population in the Gram, shall be considered for allocation by rotation:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided also that in the event of the number of Grams having the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes population constituting more than five per cent of the total population, falling short of the number of the offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan required for reservation in a district, the State Election Commissioner may, by order, include, for the purpose of reservation, other such offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan beginning from the Gram having higher proportion of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be, until the total number of seats required for reservation is obtained:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided also that in a district, determination of the offices of the Pradhan reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women shall precede such determination of the offices of the Upa-Pradhan] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 24 of 1997.]:[Provided also that if, for any term of election (hereinafter referred to in this proviso as the said term of election), the office of the Pradhan in a Gram Panchayat is reserved for any category of persons in accordance with the rules in force, the office of the Upa-Pradhan in that Gram Panchayat shall not be reserved for the said term of election for any category, and if, in accordance with the rules applicable to the office of the Upa-Pradhan, such office is required to be reserved for the said term of election, such reservation for the same category shall be made in another office of the Upa-Pradhan within the district in the manner prescribed, keeping the total number of offices so reserved for the said term of election equal to the number of such offices required to be reserved in accordance with the rules in force:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 24 of 1997.][Provided also that when in any term of election, an office of the Upa-Pradhan in not reserved on the ground that the corresponding office of the Pradhan is reserved in the manner prescribed, such office of the Upa-Pradhan not reserved on the ground as aforesaid, shall be eligible for consideration for reservation during the next term of election in the manner prescribed:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 24 of 1997.][provided also that not less than one-third of the total number of the offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in a district, shall be reserved by rotation for the women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided also that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan in a district including the offices reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, shall be reserved for the women, and the offices so reserved shall be determined by rotation in such manner as any be prescribed:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided also that notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this sub-section or elsewhere in this Act, the principle of rotation for the purpose of reservation of offices under this sub-section shall commence from the first general elections to be held after the coming into force of section 8 of the West Bengal Panchayat (Amendment)) Act, 1994, and the roaster for reservation by rotation shall continue for every three successive terms for the complete rotation unless the State Election Commissioner, for reasons to be recorded in writing and by notification, directs fresh commencement of the rotation at any stage excluding one or more terms from the operation of the rotation:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided also that no member of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes and no woman, for whom the offices are reserved under this sub-section, shall if eligible for the office of the Pradhan or the Upa-Pradhan, be disqualified for election to any office not so reserved:] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.][Provided also that the provisions for reservation of the offices of the Pradhan and the Upa-Pradhan for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall cease to have effect on the expiry of the period specified in article 334 of the Constitution of India.] [Provisos inserted by W.B. Act 18 of 1994.]
