Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 6: The State Election Commission (SEC) today called upon the Deputy Commissioners-cum-District Panchayat Election Officers to finalize Election Returning Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs in their respective districts and submit their names to the SEC even as it deliberated on phases in which the elections could be conducted.
At a high-level meeting through video conferencing with all 22 Deputy Commissioners of the State this afternoon, SEC Shantmanu, who is also Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the State, had detailed review of preparations for Panchayat elections in the State with the DCs, who act as the District Panchayat Election Officers at the time of elections.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Shantmanu called upon the DCs to identify AROs and AEROs in their districts and submit their names to the State Election Commission for finalization before announcement of the elections. The DCs have been asked to expedite the process for finalization of names of EROs and AEROs.
“After the DCs submit names of the officers for appointment as EROs and AEROs in their districts, the SEC would examine the names before their finalization,’’ sources said.
The SEC had detailed review of preparedness for Panchayat elections and sought suggestions from the Deputy Commissioners on the number of phases in which they could hold the elections in their districts.
“The DCs gave their suggestions on the number of phases, which varied from one district to another taking into account the law and order and militancy situation in their districts,’’ sources said, adding that a decision on number of phases for the elections would be taken by the State Election Commission after a review of law and order situation with civil and police administration later.
Sources pointed out that there were some peaceful districts while others were infested by militancy or other kind of law and order problem. Therefore, there were different perceptions on number of phases in every district. However, the State Election Commission will take all aspects into account before announcing the total number of phases for Panchayat elections, they said.
According to sources, the SEC would shortly finalize delimitation of Panchayats and Panch segments as it was engaged in sorting out the objections received from the people. The objections are being sorted out, they said.
The draft electoral rolls now would be put into public domain on March 11 instead of March 9 due to delay in finalization of delimitation of Panchayats and Panch segments. However, rest of the preparation for the Panchayat elections were going apace, they said.
Prior to delimitation, there were 4098 Panchayats in the State including 2145 in the Kashmir division (including Ladakh region) and 1953 in Jammu province. Apart from that, there were 15,767 Panch segments in Kashmir division including Ladakh and 13,635 in Jammu region.
With the State Government through an act of legislation deciding to do away with Sarpanch constituencies by deciding to hold in-direct election to them, there will be only Panch segments in the State now. The Panch segments have been converted into odd-number by the SEC in every Panchayat to facilitate election of Sarpanch from amongst the Panchs.
Sources said the State Government would hold high level review of law and order situation in the State before announcing the Panchayat elections.
Follow our WhatsApp channel