Jammu and Kashmir panchayat terms over, no polls in sight, local development work in limbo

In the absence of elected representatives to the Jammu and Kashmir legislature and local bodies to represent them, villagers are raising concerns about delays in administrative work. The term of panchayats in J&K ended on January 9 and fresh elections have not been announced yet, making District Development Councils the sole tier of elected governance in the Union Territory at present.

A day after the tenure of the panchayats ended, the Centre appointed Block Development Officers (BDOs) as administrators to run the panchayat halqas under their jurisdiction for six months. Officials of the Rural Development Department will now undertake work under centrally sponsored schemes till fresh elections are announced.

The Indian Express spoke to several former sarpanches who said work had been put on standby. They said the panchayats had been performing efficiently and “should have been allowed to continue”. Some said that panchayat elections should be conducted at the earliest since it “gave the rural population a stake in their development”.

Sarpanches in J&K get Rs 23.3 lakh annually for implementing centrally sponsored schemes. They work with different line departments to prioritise halqa-level works and work on rural infrastructure.

Qayoom Mir, the sarpanch of the Pohu village in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, said a lot of work was happening by utilising these funds. “We prioritised works in flood control in our area that had been pending for a long time. We also put new transformers in place,” he said, adding that “even now, people come to his residence with their issues”.

The 50-year-old said, “If there were no panchayats over the last five years, people would have been on the roads.”

In Galbuk village of north Kashmir,