Thiruvananthapuram
Elections to Kudumbashree community development societies (CDS) in eight districts that were postponed in the wake of the recent COVID-19 surge will be held on February 18. The newly elected CDS governing body will assume charge on February 21.
The elections to the three-tier Kudumbashree framework got under way in January after a year’s delay owing to the pandemic.
While elections to the Kudumbashree neighbourhood groups were held from January 7 to 13, the area development society (ADS) polls were held from January 16 to 21. The CDS elections were to be held on January 25, and the new governing bodies set to take charge on January 26.
However, the spike in the COVID-19 case graph saw the districts being categorised into A, B, and C as part of the new restrictions. The CDS elections were completed in six districts that were in B and C categories – Kollam, Kottayam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod. In Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Idukki, Ernakulam, Palakkad, and Wayanad, the CDS polls had to be postponed.
It is imperative for the CDS polls to be conducted for Kudumbashree activities to continue and fund utilisation as per the budget in a time-bound manner. Accordingly, the Kudumbashree mission has decided to conduct the polls in clusters of five wards. As each 11-member Kudumbashree ADS governing body selects one CDS member, a maximum of 50-55 people will be involved in the poll in a cluster. The CDS governing body will then get together to elect a CDS chairperson and vice chairperson.
Elections will first be held in wards reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, below-the-poverty-line candidates, Kudumbashree officials said.
Directions have been issued to conduct the elections on February 18 by adhering to COVID-19 guidelines.
