Punjab: Tenure over, Rural Department dissolves 76 Panchayat Samitis

Punjab: The Rural Development and Panchayat Department of Punjab has dissolved 76 of the total 153 panchayat samitis on completion of their five-year term. Officials aware of the matter said that orders to dissolve the remaining samitis will be issued in the coming days, depending on the timetable for completion of their respective terms. Already 13,241 gram panchayats have been dissolved in the state. Under Section 114-A of the Panchayati Raj Act, district development and panchayat officers (DDPOs) have been appointed as administrators to manage the functioning of the samitis till further orders. Rural Development and Panchayat Secretary Dilraj Singh ordered the dissolution of the samitis. Elections to rural bodies are expected to be held by the end of November and gram panchayats by December 31.
The government has recently amended the Punjab Panchayat Election Rules, 1994, to ensure that no person contests panchayat elections on a party symbol. Though panchayat elections in Punjab are not fought on party symbols, candidates in the fray can inform the State Election Commission that they are affiliated to a particular political party and would like to be allotted a party symbol. Sources said the state government intends to hold panchayat elections after bypolls to four assembly seats of Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal, Barnala and Gidderbaha. The bypolls have become necessary after the MLAs of these seats were elected to the Lok Sabha in June. Recently, the AAP government has restored the old practice of block-wise reservation for the appointment of sarpanches for the upcoming panchayat elections through an amendment in the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act. During the 2013 panchayat elections (SAD-BJP rule), the basic unit for making roster for reservation was the block. Under the Congress government, in 2018, the basic unit for implementing reservation was changed to district.