Grassroots vacuum in J&K as term of district development councils ends

The terms of panchayats and block development councils had already ended along with municipal corporations, councils and committees, across the Union territory

With the term of District Development Councils (DDC’s) ending on Tuesday, the Jammu and Kashmir, at present, has no representative in the three tier system as the terms of panchayats and the BDCs ended two years ago.

At present, has no representative in the three tier system as the terms of panchayats and the BDCs ended two years ago. (File)

The terms of panchayats and block development councils had already ended along with municipal corporations, councils and committees, across the Union territory.

“Being head of the DDC Council Kupwara, I tried to help everyone who came to me. Whether from opposition parties or my own party, I made every attempt in my capacity to solve problems faced by people in my area,” said Irfan Panditpuri, who was chairman of Kupwara DDC councils on his farewell.

For the first time, DDC polls were held in 2020, soon after the abrogation of Article 370 thus completing the three tier system in the Panchayati raj system.

Recently, during the J&K assembly session, chief minister Omar Abdullah had talked about holding the local bodies poll but had pointed towards the absence of state poll commissioner. The appointment of state election commissioner last week have an indication regarding the beginning of the process. On Saturday J&K LG Manoj Sinha administered oath to Shantmanu as J&K’s poll chief.