Elections will be postponed again in more than seven thousand Gram Panchayats of Uttarakhand! Will the tenure of administrators be extended?

Elections in more than 7000 gram panchayats of the state will be postponed again. At the same time, the tenure of the administrators appointed in them, which is ending this month, will also be extended. According to departmental officials, along with the gram panchayats, the tenure of the administrators appointed in the area and district panchayats is also certain to be extended.

The tenure of gram panchayats of other districts except Haridwar district in the state has ended on 28 November 2024 last year. Whereas the area panchayats have ended on 30 November 2024 and the district panchayats on 2 December 2024. As per the rules, elections were to be held on all these seats before this.

But the government says that elections could not be held due to unavoidable circumstances before the end of the tenure of the three-tier panchayats. In such a situation, the government had first issued an order to appoint the Assistant Development Officer Panchayat and then the outgoing Gram Pradhans as administrators.

Administrators were appointed for six months or till the formation of a new gram panchayat, according to departmental officials, the tenure of administrators appointed for six months in the gram and area panchayats is ending this month. Whereas, till now, there has been no amendment in the Panchayat Raj Act on the issue of OBC reservation and more than two children. Departmental officials say that even if the work is done fast, it will take 10 to 15 days to implement OBC reservation.

At the same time, at least 25 to 30 days are required for the elections. In such a situation, the tenure of administrators in three-tier panchayats is sure to be extended. On the other hand, departmental secretary Chandresh Kumar Yadav could not be contacted in this matter despite efforts.

The tenure of three-tier panchayats should have been extended through the administrative committee, but all three panchayats have been handed over to administrators. Due to this, the amount of Rs 16 crore of state finance and 15th finance is not being spent in 12 districts. The government should conduct elections soon.

– Jagat Singh Martolia, Convener of Panchayat Organization