Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, Jun 13: The five- year tenure of the district development councils in J&K will come to an end on February 24, 2026, while the two other tiers of Panchayati Raj system- Halqa Panchayats and Block Development Councils- have been non- existent for one –and-a-half years now.
Officials said that existing DDCs would complete their five- year term in February next year.
“Since they were formally constituted by the Department of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development on February 25, 2021, they would complete their term on February 24, 2026,” they said, adding that they can be dissolved even before completing their five year term on the grounds of holding simultaneous polls for all tiers of Panchayati Raj system.
Legally speaking, the Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 states that District Development Councils (DDCs) have a five-year term. However, if the government decides to hold common elections for all levels of the Panchayat system at the same time, the term of the DDCs may end earlier to match the tenure of other two-tiers.
The Panchayats and BDCs have been non-existent since January 10, 2024 as Jammu & Kashmir government is yet to hold elections to elect representatives for these bodies.
Official sources said that the government is yet to decide on timing of holding local bodies’ polls in the Union Territory.
“The government has not yet made up its mind on when to hold the polls. It is expected that a decision on conducting local bodies elections will be taken only after the Amarnath Yatra,’ they said, adding that the ECI is also expected to decide the timing of by-polls in Budgam and Nagrota segments in August–September this year.” (KNO)
