After the postponement of elections in 6,759 village panchayats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan is set to reorganise all 11,283 panchayats as well as 352 panchayat samitis in the State. The Panchayati Raj Department has issued a notification laying down the norms for determining the number of wards in the rural local bodies based on their population.
The State government had last month deferred elections in the village panchayats, whose tenure was about to end, and appointed the sitting sarpanches as panchayat administrators. The move was seen as a step towards the ‘one State, one election’ policy, allowing all Panchayati Raj Institutions to go to simultaneous polls. The BJP government had announced the plans to adopt this policy in the 2024-25 State Budget to reduce election-related expenses and streamline governance at the grassroots. The State Election Commission reportedly intends to conduct all civic body polls by the middle of this year in three to four phases.
A Cabinet subcommittee, headed by Panchayati Raj Minister Madan Dilawar, was also appointed last month to consider the reorganisation and delimitation of panchayat bodies. The subcommittee will examine the proposals by dividing the districts in three categories – general, desert and tribal-dominated.
After the polls were postponed, the representatives of Rajasthan Sarpanch Sangh met Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and praised his decision while demanding assurance of their continuance till the next elections. Mr. Sharma, who started his political career as the sarpanch of Attari in Bharatpur district, said sarpanches hold the key to development in rural areas.
While the reorganisation was sought to be carried out under Section 14 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, the High Court has asked the government to provide a clear timeline for conducting the panchayat polls. The matter was taken to the High Court through a public interest litigation challenging the extension of tenure of sarpanches. The plea contended that “private individuals” could not be appointed as administrators, as the law provides for appointment of only government officials for a maximum period of six months. The petitioners, including former sarpanches, said the decision to postpone the polls had disrupted the democratic structure of rural institutions and destabilised rural governance.
Published - February 12, 2025 01:49 am IST
