Polls to rural local bodies, due late December, may be delayed

This is because the process of re-organisation of local bodies in general and village panchayats in particular is not yet complete. An official, who handled the previous round of local bodies’ polls, says this may take three to four months

Polls to rural local bodies (RLBs) in 28 districts, due for late December, may be delayed as the process of re-organisation of local bodies in general and village panchayats (VPs) in particular is not yet complete.

The term of a number of RLBs is coming to an end by January 5. On December 27 and 30, 2019, approximately 77% of a total of about 3.31 crore voters — around 2.55 crore — exercised their franchise to elect representatives for 515 district panchayat (DP) wards,  5,090 panchayat union (PU) wards, and  76,746 village panchayat (VP) wards, spread over 27 districts. In addition, the poll was conducted to elect 9,264 VP presidents. The remaining nine districts went to elections in October 2021.

Talking about the current process of re-organisation to determine jurisdictional areas of various local bodies, officials in the government say that in many districts, the issue of merging VPs with nearby urban local bodies (ULBs) is being studied. In some of the districts, there is clarity on whether the merger should be done or not whereas in others, for want of data, the issue is yet to be resolved. The plan is to complete the process in a month. Besides, the process covers a number of urban local bodies too. As per an estimate, there are 506 VPs that may be affected, in addition to 47 town panchayats and five municipalities.

There has been a mixed response from residents of VPs to the proposal to merge rural local bodies with their urban counterparts. For example, the plan to merge 11 VPs with the limits of the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation has caused apprehension among sections of residents regarding its impact on their livelihoods, as such areas will not be covered under programmes including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). In Tirunelveli district, residents of Naranammalpuram and Shankar Nagar town panchayats (TPs) favour the merger whereas those in Kondaanagaram VP are opposed to the proposal. 

On completion of the ongoing exercise of re-organisation, the process of delimitation of wards will be taken up. This will be carried out through the State Delimitation Commission, which comprises the State Election Commissioner, the Commissioner of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, the Directors of Municipal Administration and Town Panchayats, and the Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation.

According to a study of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, which came out with a report exactly a year ago on panchayat elections in the country, only two States — Kerala and Karnataka — have separate State Delimitation Commissions.

A draft notification will be issued initially, inviting comments and objections to the proposed delimitation. After scrutinising public feedback, authorities will come out with the final notification on wards. For all this to get completed, three to four months may be required, says an official who handled the previous round of local bodies’ polls.

Published - November 09, 2024 11:08 pm IST