The tenure of nearly 28,000 representatives in Panchayats and Block Development Councils (BDCs) are coming to an end today in Jammu and Kashmir. New elections are unlikely for at least six months due to voter revision, the identification of Wards for other backward classes (OBCs) and fresh delimitation.
All powers and duties of the grassroot bodies will be exercised by administrators appointed by the Union Territory administration (UT) for six months, which can be extended by three months. Though the term of 310 BDCs actually ends only in October this year, it will come to an end today in view of the Panchayati Raj Act, which states that the term of BDCs will be co-terminus with panchayats.
The only elected representatives to continue in the UT will be the five Lok Sabha MPs, three from the National Conference and two from BJP; and 280 District Development Council (DDC) members, 14 in each of the 20 districts of the UT, including chairpersons and vice-chairpersons.
The DDCs, the third tier of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs), were established in Jammu and Kashmir post the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile State.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration recently approved an amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act providing reservation to OBCs. The election to Panchayats and BDCs will now be possible only after seats are reserved for OBCs and the annual voter revision for panchayats, scheduled to be published on February 26, is completed. Once the percentage for reservation to be granted to OBCs in panchayats is finalised, a decision will be taken on the number of sarpanch and panch constituencies to be reserved for them, followed by the delimitation of the Wards.
Panchayat elections were last held in Jammu and Kashmir in November-December 2018, nearly after four decades; and after a gap of 13 years, elections to Municipalities were conducted in October of the same year.
77 Urban Local Bodies, including two Corporations of Jammu and Srinagar, completed their term in November-December last year. The granting of reservation to OBCs also delayed elections to Municipalities including 40 in the Kashmir division and 37 in Jammu.
The J&K Administrative Council recently amended the Panchayat Raj Act granting reservation to OBCs in panchayats. A similar amendment is expected to be carried out shortly in the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporations Act and J&K Municipalities Act.
Anil Sharma, President of J&K Panchayat Conference said they recently held a meeting with the UT administration and requested to allow the Panchayat members to continue as caretakers until the process to reserve seats for the OBCs and delimitation is completed. “We are ready to work without any remuneration as caretakers’’ Sharma said. “But the government has decided to appoint administrators to take control of Panchayat.”