Election to 28,000 panchayat seats in Jammu and Kashmir, where the ongoing term of panchs ended on Tuesday, is likely to be delayed as there are multiple processes pending following the passage of the J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Parliament. Officials suggested that panchayat elections are unlikely to be held ahead of the Lok Sabha election, unless they are fast-tracked in the time available.
Also read: No local body representatives in J&K from January 9; no Assembly since 2018
The term of 28,000 panchs or grassroots representatives, who were elected in 2018 to the first-ever three-tier system of representation in the Union Territory — panchayat, block and district-level councils — ended after the completion of the five year term on Tuesday, January 9.
The upcoming revision of the electoral rolls is the first process that will delay panchayat elections till March. “We are in the process of revision of electoral rolls. It will start from January 15. We are registering fresh eligible voters and making necessary changes in rolls. The final list will be published on February 26,” B.R. Sharma, J&K State Election Commissioner, told The Hindu.
The revision of rolls will be followed by the rotation and identification of panchayat constituencies that were reserved for women during the 2018 elections. “It’s a requirement to identify fresh seats for women on a rotational basis,” a senior official said.
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The holding of the panchayat election also depends on the formal amendments made to the J&K Panchayati Raj Act in the Parliament in accordance with the J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed recently. The Bill envisaged the categorisation of additional sections of society as “weak and under-privileged classes”, and including some more communities under the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The amendments need to be taken up during the upcoming, shorter session of the Parliament.
The government is required to set up a commission for the certification of these classes and groups as a reserved category with fresh categorisation, a senior government official said. “The quantum of reservation also remains undecided so far and needs to be finalised by the government,” he added.
According to the Supreme Court’s latest guidelines, a commission should conduct a survey to ensure OBCs are provided reservation in the panchayat election on the basis of the triple test — rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies, specifying the proportion of reservation required, and to ensure reservation for Scheduled Castes or SCs/Scheduled Tribes or STs/OBCs taken together does not exceed an aggregate of 50% of the total number of seats.
The chances of the Parliament and panchayat elections taking place together in April-May are “slim because of the differing election processes, and mobilisation of staff”. “The Parliament elections use electronic voting machines (EVM), while the panchayat elections in J&K continue to use the ballot system. The two elections can’t be held simultaneously,” another senior official said.
This could further push the elections beyond May this year. Panchayats have been the last connection for the political class with the masses in Kashmir. There has been no Assembly election since 2018, when the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-BJP government collapsed.
Official sources said the J&K Lieutenant-Governor’s administration was in the process of designating officials as administrators of the elected councils. They could hold office for six months, extendable by three months.
“We are thankful to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accepting our demands and setting up a three-tier system in J&K in 2018. We urge the government to hold these [three tier] elections as soon as possible. In case the elections are being delayed, our term should be extended. We are ready to work on a voluntary basis and would not take any honorarium for it. We want this bridge with the people to stay strong,” Anil Sharma, president of the All J&K Panchayat Conference, said.
