The Government of Goa, on September 7, 2026, published the Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2026, which was passed by the Goa Legislative Assembly on September 1, 2026 and received the Governor’s assent on September 5, 2026. The Act further amends the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968 and generally comes into force at once, while Clause (A) of Section 2 and Sections 3 and 4 are deemed effective from April 22, 2026.
The amendment revises the criteria under Section 9 for determining municipal representation, including increasing the population threshold from 2,500 to 3,000 and replacing references to the number of “voters in the municipal area” with “population”. It also changes the reservation provision from “shall be twenty-seven percent” to “may be twenty-seven percent” and introduces a rounding rule for determining the number of seats based on proportional calculations.
A substituted Section 10 provides a revised process for division of municipal areas into wards and reservation of wards. The State Election Commission is to determine the number of wards, undertake delimitation within 60 days, publish a draft delimitation inviting public objections and suggestions for 30 days, and issue the final delimitation notification within 30 days after the objection period. The Commission is also required to obtain empirical data on political backwardness from the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes for the relevant municipal areas and wards.
[Goa Act 17 of 2026]
