Govt to fill up some vacancies of Administrators soon
Panchayats will cease to exist on Jan 9 next year
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 21: Five-year term of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) will end on November 14 and that of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) on November 5. Term of most of other Municipal Councils and Committees is scheduled to end between October 28 to December 26 this year.
However, term of the Panchayats will cease to exist on January 9, 2024.
As per the Acts of Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporations and Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Committees, powers of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and Chairpersons of Councils and Committees will switch over to the Commissioners of Corporations and Administrators of Councils and Committees.
While Commissioners at both JMC and SMC are in place, official sources told the Excelsior that some posts of Administrators in Municipal Councils and Committees are lying vacant and process has been initiated to fill up the posts to ensure that working of the Urban Local Bodies doesn’t suffer after expiry of their term in the next few days.
Five years term of the Panchayats will end on January 9 i.e. after over two and half months.
The Housing and Urban Development Department takes term of the Urban Local Bodies into account from the date of their first meeting.
Sources said first meeting of Jammu Municipal Corporation was held on November 15, 2018 and therefore it’s term will expire on November 14, 2023.
As per the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporations Act, powers of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are vested with the Commissioners of their term cease to exist. Similar is the provision for Municipal Councils and Committees, where powers of the Chairpersons shift to Administrators.
If elections to the Panchayats are also delayed, powers of the Sarpanchs are vested with the Block Development Officers (BDOs).
However, the Block Development Councils (BDCs) and District Development Councils (DDC) will remain in place. Terms of BDCs will expire in October 2024 and that of DDCs in January 2026 as their elections were held for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir completing three-tier system in the Union Territory.
Sources said terms of various other Urban Local Bodies in Jammu and Kashmir would end between October 28 to December 26.
There are a total of 77 ULBs in the UT including 40 in Kashmir division and 37 in Jammu division.
“The end of the tenure of Urban Local Bodies means that the term of all Corporators/Councilors, including those elected in bye-elections, is also over. The Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Corporators/ Councilors of Urban Local Bodies would no longer be entitled to perks, privileges and honorarium, the sources said.
Elections to Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats which were scheduled to be held between October and December were delayed for granting reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The Government now proposed to amend Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporations Act, Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Committees Act and Panchayati Raj Act to provide reservation to OBCs before holding the elections.
Presently, women have 33 percent reservation in Municipal Corporations, Councils, Committees and Panchayats while Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been given reservation based on their population. OBCs are also scheduled to get reservation on the basis of their population. Within 33 percent reservation to women, Wards are also reserved for SC and ST women.
As per an official document, term of Municipal Committee Kupwara would end on November 2 while terms of Langate and Handwara Municipalities would be over on November 18.
In North Kashmir’s Baramulla district, the term of elected representatives in Baramulla Municipal Council ends on November 9, while the five-year term of Sopore Municipality will expire on November 4.
Term of Kunzer, Pattan, Uri and Watergam Committees will end on November 4.
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