Punjab dissolves panchayats having completed 5-year term

Last month, Punjab government had sought information from its concerned officers regarding the date of completion of the five-year term of gram panchayats

The Punjab government on Wednesday dissolved the gram panchayats, which have completed their five-year term with immediate effect.

Punjab government dissolved the panchayats having completed their 5-year term. (HT File)

Last month, the department had sought information from its concerned officers regarding the date of completion of the five-year term of gram panchayats in the state so as to appoint administrative officers.

“In exercise of powers conferred by Section 29-A of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and all other powers enabling him in this behalf, the Governor of Punjab is pleased to dissolve the gram panchayats, which have completed the term of five years from the date of their first meeting,” as per the notification issued by additional chief secretary rural development Alok Shekhar.

Almost 98% of the panchayats stand dissolved as most of them had completed their term before February 28. With this, the government has once again set the ball rolling for the panchayat polls, which are likely to be held after the Lok Sabha elections. The Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, provides a provision for holding elections within six months from the completion of the term of a panchayat.

The notification said that the rural development director and panchayats-cum-special secretary have been authorised to appoint persons from amongst the rural development and panchayats departments in the rank of assistant engineers, junior engineers, social education and panchayat officer, village development organiser and panchayat officer. The appointed officers shall, upon dissolution of each such gram panchayat, perform the functions and exercise the powers of such gram panchayat till the elected body assumes the charge of office, reads the notification.

Last year on August 10, the state government had notified the dissolution of panchayats and declared elections to gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, and zila parishad under the Panchayati Raj Act, triggering a political uproar with Opposition parties flaying the government’s decision of dissolving local bodies as “unconstitutional.”

Then, in August itself, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had set aside the state government’s order to dissolve panchayats before the completion of their five-year term. Following the order, the Punjab government had suspended two senior IAS officers of the rural development and panchayats department with immediate effect for taking a “technically flawed” decision regarding the dissolution of panchayats. The suspension orders, issued by chief secretary Anurag Verma, came hours after the Punjab government informed the high court that it is withdrawing its notification dissolving all gram panchayats in the state, a move that is being seen as a major embarrassment for the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP regime.

This time around it seems the government is treading cautiously, and the rural development and panchayats department took details about the completion of 5-year terms of all 13,241 panchayats in the state before taking a decision to dissolve them and appoint an administrator.

The last panchayat elections in the state were held in January 2019, but the five-year term of a gram panchayat starts from the first date of its meeting.

There are over 13,000 panchayats there are 22 zila parishads and 152 panchayat samitis in the state.