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Madhya Pradesh state election panel declares dates for panchayat polls
In the first phase, elections will be held for 115 Janpad Panchayats, 8,702 Gram Panchayats. In the second phase, elections will be held for 106 Janpad Panchayats and 7661 Gram Panchayats and in the third phase, elections will be held for only 92 Janpad Panchayats and 6649 Gram Panchayats.
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission on Friday announced the dates for the three-tier panchayat elections to be held next month. The polls to fill about four lakhs posts will be held in three phases on June 25, July 1 and July 8. The results will be announced on July 15.
“The code of conduct in the panchayat areas has come into force from Friday. Panchayat elections will be held through ballot papers,” State Election Commissioner Basant Pratap Singh said.
“The elections will be held to choose 875 members of the district panchayat, 313 members of Janpad, 22,921 sarpanches and 3,63,726 panchs. The counting of votes for the posts of Panch, Sarpanch, Janpad Panchayat members will be held on July 14. The counting of votes for district Panchayat members will be held on May 15 and the election results will be declared on July 15 at the district headquarters,” the commissioner State Election Commissioner Basant Pratap Singh said.
In the first phase, elections will be held for 115 Janpad Panchayats, 8,702 Gram Panchayats. In the second phase, elections will be held for 106 Janpad Panchayats and 7661 Gram Panchayats and in the third phase, elections will be held for only 92 Janpad Panchayats and 6649 Gram Panchayats.
There will be no election in 91 gram panchayats as the tenure for those will be completed in November 2022.
The commissioner said the panchayat elections are being held before July 15 to avoid any problems due to the monsoon season.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday morning announced incentives for panchayats where the candidate is elected unopposed.
“If the sarpanch is elected unopposed in any panchayat, an incentive amount of ₹5 lakh will be provided to that panchayat. An incentive amount of ₹7 lakh will be provided to the panchayat for electing a sarpanch unopposed consecutively for the second time. If the entire panchayat i.e. all the panchs and sarpanchs are elected unopposed, then assistance of ₹7 lakh will be given to the panchayat as an incentive,” announced the CM.
He also made special announcements for woman candidates. “If women are elected to all the posts of sarpanch and panch in the panchayat, then an incentive amount of ₹12 lakh will be provided to the panchayat. If women are elected unopposed to all the posts of sarpanch and panch in the panchayat, an incentive amount of ₹15 lakh will be provided to the panchayat,” said the chief minister.
Chouhan also announced special awards in four categories for the developed panchayats.
The panchayats will be given awards for being financially self-reliant, clean, healthy and green and women and child friendly. As a first prize, ₹50 lakh will be given while ₹25 lakh and ₹15 lakh will be given as second and third prize respectively to panchayats who meet the given criteria.
