SRINAGAR: The All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC), the apex body of elected sarpanches and panches, on Monday made a strong appeal to the Jammu and Kashmir administration to take immediate steps for restoring grassroots democracy by holding overdue panchayat elections and releasing blocked developmental funds meant for rural areas.
Addressing a press conference, AJKPC president Anil Sharma expressed serious concern over the continued delay in the conduct of panchayat polls, pointing out that more than a year has passed since the dissolution of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) on January 9, 2024. The failure to hold fresh elections within the stipulated timeframe, he said, has created a “democratic vacuum” in villages and halted key governance processes.
“We had hoped that after the assembly elections, the panchayat elections would be held without delay. Unfortunately, that has not happened,” Sharma said, warning that the absence of elected bodies at the village level is paralysing governance and obstructing vital services.
He said the continued delay has resulted in the freezing of development funds specifically allocated for the PRIs, hampering essential rural projects. “Road works, electricity supply, drinking water schemes, and ration distribution have either slowed down or completely stopped in several areas,” he added.
Calling it a “setback to democratic governance,” Sharma reiterated the organisation’s long-pending demand for the creation of an independent State Election Commission (SEC) to ensure timely and impartial conduct of elections.
“We fought for the establishment of an autonomous SEC so that elections are not at the mercy of political calculations. But the situation hasn’t improved, and delays continue,” Sharma remarked.
He urged the administration to announce a definite timeline for both the panchayat and Block Development Council (BDC) elections. “Elections are not a formality—they are a necessity. Without them, rural governance is crippled, and it is the common man who bears the brunt,” he said.
The AJKPC also cautioned that the current administrative gap at the grassroots level risks derailing rural development programmes and further alienating village communities already struggling with delayed projects and lack of representation.
With the Centre emphasising the importance of decentralised governance in Jammu and Kashmir following its reorganisation in 2019, the prolonged vacuum at the PRI level could undermine key initiatives in the region’s rural transformation, the AJKPC warned.
The conference concluded with a renewed call to the Lieutenant Governor-led administration to uphold its commitment to empowering local self-government and to take urgent action to restore the democratic fabric of rural Jammu and Kashmir.
