Two days long review meetings conclude
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 4: State Election Commissioner Shantmanu today concluded two days long discussions with Deputy District Election Officers and others on preparations for Panchayat and District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Yesterday, the SEC met the officers of Jammu division while today he held meeting with officers of Kashmir division in online mode.
Later, he left for Srinagar for interaction with the senior officers to discuss preparedness for the polls.
In December 2020 when first-ever elections were conducted to the DDCs, some Panchayat seats were vacant and polling to them was held simultaneously with the DDCs.
“These officers have experience for conducting simultaneous elections to DDCs and Panchayats which they will share with the SEC since this is for the first time that the Commission proposes to hold both elections together,” the sources said.
Holding Panchayat and DDC elections together means the people voting for three candidates simultaneously i.e. Sarpanch, Panch and DDC member.
“This is the cumbersome process and the SEC is working on formulation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which will have all details pertaining to smooth conduct of the elections,” the sources said.
The SOP will be finalized by the Commission shortly in consultation with the concerned officials, they added.
The Panchayats ceased to exist in Jammu and Kashmir on January 9, 2024 and the UT is without the elected Panchayats for past over two years now.
Similar is the case with the Municipalities which completed their term in October-November 2023. Term of the Block Development Councils (BDCs) was co-terminus with the Panchayats and their tenure also ended on January 9, 2024.
Tenure of the District Development Councils (DDCs) ended on February 24, 2026.
Now, the Jammu and Kashmir is without the elected Local Bodies with all three tiers of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) non-existent.
The SEC recently concluded voter revision exercise for Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir in which number of electorates went up to 72.24 lakh.
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