By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 10 Jun: The Uttarakhand Government has appointed officers as administrators in place of the outgoing Panchayat office-bearers across the state, barring Haridwar district, following the expiry of their tenures and in view of the forthcoming elections, which are still expected to be held by 31 July 2025. According to the sources, this step had become a technical necessity to ensure continuity in governance until the constitution of new Panchayats.
Meanwhile, sources have also claimed that three-tier panchayat elections will be held next month in the remaining 12 districts of the state except Haridwar. The government is finalising the preparations accordingly. According to sources, the notification of the election is likely on 20 June. The sources also claimed that 10 July is proposed for voting, but if the State Election Commission wants to conduct the voting in two phases, then the option of 7 July has also been kept. In such a development, the counting of votes is likely to be held from 15 July.
Meanwhile, the government has also issued a notification regarding the new rules in view of reservation in panchayats. Along with this, the Panchayati Raj Directorate has been asked to immediately provide the proposal for reservation.
According to the official orders issued by the State Government, District Magistrates have been appointed as administrators for District Panchayats, Sub-Divisional Magistrates for Block Panchayats, and Assistant Development Officers (Panchayat), posted in the respective development blocks, for Gram Panchayats.
The newly issued order supersedes the earlier ones under which outgoing Panchayat Presidents were designated as administrators. The tenure of these interim arrangements had ended on 27 May in the case of Gram Panchayats, on 29 May for Block Panchayats, and on 1 June for District Panchayats. However, owing to unavoidable circumstances related to delimitation and due to pending decision on OBC reservations in the Panchayats, general elections for these bodies could not be conducted before the expiry of their terms.
To avoid a vacuum in administrative functioning and to ensure continuity in public services, the government has now officially vested the said officers will assume administrative responsibilities until the completion of the Panchayat election process or 31 July 2025, whichever is earlier.
As per the revised arrangement, 12 District Panchayats, 2,941 Block Panchayats, and 7,478 Gram Panchayats in the state, excluding Haridwar, will now be administered by the appointed officers.
The order, issued by Secretary Panchayati Raj, Chandresh Kumar, further clarifies that all other provisions of the previous notifications shall remain unchanged.
Post-delimitation, elections are to be held in approximately 7,514 Gram Panchayats, 2,936 Block Panchayats, 343 District Panchayats, and 55,640 Gram Wards. The decision to replace the earlier appointees with senior administrative officers is seen as a procedural measure necessitated by the constitutional requirement of timely elections and uninterrupted governance.
