SEC orders revision of Panchayat electoral rolls

Jammu, Oct 26: Days after the extension in the term of “J&K Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission”, the State Election Commission (SEC) issued instructions for the revision of the Panchayat Electoral roll.

As per the timeline of the revision schedule issued by SEC, J&K through a communiqué to all Deputy Commissioners, January 6, 2025 will be the date for publication of the final Panchayat Electoral Roll-2024. Annual revision of existing electoral rolls will be made with January 1, 2025, as the qualifying date.

Publication of the draft Panchayat Electoral roll will be made on November 4, 2024, while the period of filing of claims and objections for additions, deletions, corrections and transposition will be from November 4, 2024 to December 4, 2024.

Six special camps at the Polling booth locations across J&K will be held on November 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and December 1, 2024.

The date for disposal of claims and objections by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will be December 20, 2024.

Prior to this order, the Union Territory Government had extended the term of the “Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission” up to December 31, 2024, ending all speculations about the conduct of Panchayat elections (or for that matter even the Urban Local Bodies’ elections) by the end of 2024.

The Commission was constituted on June 11, 2024, for facilitating reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Local bodies i.e., Panchayats and Municipal bodies in J&K.

Headed by Justice (retired) Janak Raj Kotwal, the Commission also comprised retired IAS officer Raj Kumar Bhagat and ex-Dean Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu, Mohinder Singh Bhadwal.

It (the Commission) was tasked to determine the percentage of reservations to OBCs in Panchayats, ULBs, Block Development Councils and District Development Councils, decks for which were cleared by the Parliament in February this year.

For this reason (non-determination of reservation percentage for OBCs), the elections to local bodies in J&K, due last year, could not be held.

Earlier this week, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha reiterated that the elections to Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies would be held as soon as the OBC Commission submitted its report on (OBC) reservation.

“Preparations are complete, only the report is awaited,” he had said.