J&K council approves holding of elections to vacant sarpanch, panch posts

"The administrative council, which met under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, today approved the proposal of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to issue a notification for conducting elections to vacant sarpanch/panch constituencies," an official said. The detailed schedule will be finalised by the election authority, according to the spokesperson.

The Jammu and Kashmir administrative council on Wednesday approved holding of elections to the vacant sarpanch and panch constituencies in the Union territory. "The administrative council, which met under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, today approved the proposal of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to issue a notification for conducting elections to vacant sarpanch/panch constituencies," an official said.

The detailed schedule will be finalised by the election authority, according to the spokesperson. "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," the spokesperson said. "It will ensure that the non-functional panchayats become functional." Earlier, 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 block development council chairpersons, death and non-availability of candidates at the time of election.

Among them, 1,089 vacancies pertain to the office of the sarpanch, whereas 12,168 are panch vacancies. The elections to the vacancies notified earlier were postponed due to security concerns and the coronavirus pandemic.

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