Term of 278 DDC members expires
Arvind Sharma
Jammu Tawi, Feb 23: Curtains will fall on the Panchayati Raj system in Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday, with its last surviving tier-the District Development Councils-completing their term. The District Development Councils will complete their five-year tenure on February 24, 2026, marking the end of the third tier of the Panchayati Raj system in J&K.
The three-tier grass roots level democracy in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will totally be no more there after 1 PM tomorrow onwards as the term of all the 278 District Development Council (DDC) members, including twenty (20) Chairmen, is going to expire on tomorrow afternoon.
So far there are no signs of holding Urban Local Bodies’ and Panchayat elections in the UT of J&K, which means that the three-tier grass roots level democracy will not be there in J&K for some months to come.
It may be mentioned there are a total of 280 DDC members, including 20 Chairmen, but the elections for only 278 members were held in 2020. The elections for 2 seats of DDC members were not conducted in 2020 due to varied reasons.
The elections for the ULBs and the panchayats in the UT of J&K were also held in 2020 for the first time after the implementation of 73rd and 74th amendment in 2019.
The term of ULBs expired around 2 years back, while the term of Block Development Councils (BDCs) also expired around 2 years back. The term of Panchs and Sarpanchs also expired in 2024. Now, the term of all the 278 DDC members will expire tomorrow after 1 PM.
The outgoing DDC members, including, Chairmen, will hold a mega press conference at 1 PM tomorrow at Tawi Mahal, Udheywala, Jammu, and will present their report card and the work done before the people since 2020, DDC Chairman, Bharat Bhushan said.
The time 1 PM has been chosen by the DDC members as the term of all the 278 members will expire at 1 PM tomorrow.
Meanwhile, all the 278 DDC members, including 20 Chairmen, have been directed to vacate their offices all across J&K.
Meanwhile, sources said that after the expiry of three-tier grass roots level democracy in J&K, the development works all across J&K will be badly affected and the day to day problems of the people will also remain unaddressed at grass roots level.
They said that already several developmental works worth crores have not been undertaken by the ULBs and the Panchayats in J&K in the last 2 years as there is nobody to take call at grass roots level.
