Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Oct 20: Days after the Government of India amended “The Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act-1989” for establishing elected district development councils (DDCs), the authorities have notified 280 proposed constituencies of DDCs in the Union Territory.
The delimitation proposals notifying proposed DDC constituencies along with their territorial limits have been put in public domain by all deputy commissioners of Jammu & Kashmir.
The objections, if any, to these proposals can be submitted to respective deputy commissioners in writing by October 23.
On 16th of this month, the Union Home Ministry amended the J&K Panchayati Raj Act-1989, for establishment of DDCs having jurisdiction over the entire district excluding those areas falling within municipal limits.
Next day, the administration of the UT framed Rules for implementation of the amendments requiring deputy commissioners to divide entire area of DDC of a district into 14 territorial constituencies.
Spread over 20 districts, J&K UT will have 280 such constituencies as each district will have 14 such segments spread over Panchayat areas.
It is worthwhile to mention here that we were the first to report about establishment of directly elected DDCs in J&K.
According to the amendments in Panchayati Raj Act , only elected members of territorial constituencies will have voting rights to elect or remove chairmen of district developments, even as MLAs of J&K UT and chairpersons of block development councils will be members of DDC.
“All members of district development council, whether or not elected by direct election from territorial constituencies in the district shall have the right to vote in the meeting of the district development council,” the law states.
The term of DDCs shall be five years except for holding common elections to all the tiers of the Panchayats simultaneously so that all the tiers have co-extensive terms in the district.
The provision of disqualification for elected members of DDCs shall be similar to those applicable to members of Halqa Panchayats.
