Committee for district planning

(1) There shall be constituted at the level of every district a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by the Pachayats and the Municipalities in the district and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole. (2) The District Planning Committee of a district shall consist to such number of member as specified against that district in the Schedule. (3) As nearly as but not less than, eighty percent of the members shall be elected in the prescribed manner by, and from amongst, the elected members of the Zilla Parishad and the elected Councilors of the Municipalities in the district in proportion to the ratio between the population of the rural areas and of the urban areas in the district, and remaining twenty percentum of the members shall be as follows:- (i) a Minister in the Council of Ministers of the State to be nominated by the Government, who shall be the Chairperson; (ii) the Collector of the district, who shall be the Member-Secretary; and (iii) the remaining members, if any, to be nominated by the Government from among the persons having knowledge in Planning, Agriculture, Economics, Irrigation, Industry, Education, Rural Development or Social Services; Provided that no person shall be qualified for nomination as a member under this clause, if he- (i) is, at the time of nomination, of unsound mind or a deaf-mute; or (ii) is an uncertified bankrupt or undischarged insolvent; or (iii) has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section,- (a) members of Parliament and the members of the Legislative Assembly of the State representing constituencies which comprise wholly or partly any area of the district shall be invited to attend the meetings of the Committee as permanent invitees; and (b) it shall be competent for the Chairperson of the Committee to invite any person including an expert to attend any meeting of the Committee; Provided that the members of Parliament and the Legislative Assembly of the State referred to in clause (a) and any person invited under clause (b) shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the Committee, but the views expressed by them shall be recorded in the proceedings of the meeting. Explanation: - For the purposes of this section,- (a) "rural areas" means the territorial areas of Panchayats; and (b) "urban areas" means the territorial areas of Municipalities. (5) In absence of the Chairperson the members present in a meeting shall choose one from among themselves to preside over the meeting of the Committee. (6) The quorum for the meetings of the Committee shall be one-half or total number of members thereof.