AC approves conduct of elections to vacant Sarpanch, Panch constituencies

Srinagar: The Administrative Council (AC) which met under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, Wednesday approved the proposal of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to issue a notification for conducting elections to vacant Sarpanch/Panch constituencies. The detailed schedule will be finalised by the election authority.
Filling of the vacant constitutional posts will ensure devolution of powers and proper grass-root planning in the 3rd-tier of the Local Self Government. It will ensure that the non-functional Panchayats become functional.
Earlier, general elections to 39,521 Sarpanch/Panch constituencies in 4,483 Halqa Panchayats were conducted in 2018 of which 13,257 positions are vacant due to resignation, removal, election of Sarpanch as BDC Chairpersons, death, and non-availability of candidates at the time of election. Among them, 1,089 vacancies pertain to the office of Sarpanch, whereas 12,168 are Panch vacancies.
Pertinently, the elections to the vacancies notified earlier were postponed due to security concerns and the onset of COVID-19.