E-Paper
Funds worth crores likely to lapse with delay in local body polls in J&K
The tenures of Srinagar municipal corporation (MC), Jammu MC and municipal councils and committees in 20 districts of J&K have ended or will end this month
Although the term of panchayats and urban local bodies is ending this month, the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have shown no indication of conducting of the elections yet. The delay in elections and missing panchayats and municipal bodies are likely to result in a lapse of crores of rupees due to non-availability of representatives.
More than 40,000 panchayats and urban bodies’ members are to be elected through these polls which were due this month. The tenures of Srinagar municipal corporation (MC), Jammu MC and municipal councils and committees in 20 districts of J&K have ended or will end this month.
The tenures of hundreds of panchayats are also ending this month or next month. The J&K administration is silent on elections despite boasting about the completion of three-tier panchayati raj system by holding district development council polls in 2020 after abrogation of Article 370.
Advocate Irfan Hafeez Lone, who is also a DDC member and one of the petitioners in the case against Article 370 case in Supreme Court, said that the Union government informed the apex court during the hearing that assembly and parliamentary elections will be held soon in J&K.
“I am surprised, even now they (administration) seem in no hurry to hold urban local bodies and panchayat polls in J&K which is basic part of the grassroots democracy,” he said, adding that this means the administration is weakening the institutions which are mandatory for strong democracy.
“If we don’t have panchayats in place, we won’t be eligible for many Central funds,” he said.
Anantnag municipal council chief Hilal Shah said that he has stopped attending the office from past two to three days.
“There is uncertainty. If the administration would have been interested in holding these elections, then this process should have started two months ago. This was the institution where representatives of people were holding posts, this too has gone now. Even many funds would stop now,” he said.
Mir Iqbal, Narwav block development council chairperson, said the Bharatiya Janata Party is afraid of holding Panchayat or local bodies elections as they fear their candidates will face big defeat.
Baramulla municipal council chief Omar Kakroo said that these polls should be held in priority or these bodies will lose out on required funds.
Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha has also highlighted the “restoration of grassroots democracy” in the region on multiple occasions.
In July, state election commissioner BR Sharma had told reporters that panchayat polls in would be held in October or November.
