Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Jan 04 :
The term of Panchayats and Block Development Councils (BDCs) in Jammu & Kashmir will end on January 09.
Official sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the term of all Panchayats and BDCs in J&K Union Territory will end on Tuesday (January 09).
Constituted on January 10, 2019, the five-year term of Sarpanchs and Panchs will end on January 09, in accordance with the law governing their functioning.
The Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act-1989 provides that the Sarpanch, the Naib-Sarpanch and Panch of the Panchayat shall hold the office for a period of five years from the date of its constitution.
Simultaneously, the BDCs will also complete their term on the same day, even as election for BDCs were held almost a year after Panchayat election.
The term of BDC will end because J&K Panchayati Raj law provides that the tenure of a BDC shall be co-extensive with the term of Panchayats of that block.
While Panchayat elections were held in November- December 2018, the election for BDCs was held on October 24, 2019.
It is worthwhile to mention that elections for Panchayats were expected to be held in October – November 2023, but were delayed due to different legal and procedural issues.
In the last week of December, the administrative council headed by LG Manoj Sinha proposed amendments in Jammu & Kashmir’s Panchayati Raj Act to grant reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in these institutions—(KNO)