DDC elections

UT administration has set the process in motion for the elections to be held at the level of District Development Councils. The process was started as the central government recently amended Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, paving the way for such elections.

The members for these councils will be elected by the process of elections and it will provide a much needed cushion to the administration for ground level governance.

The District Development Councils (DDCs) are set to become a new unit of governance in Jammu and Kashmir. A legislation to this effect was brought in by the Ministry of Home Affairs on October 16 through an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989. This structure will include a DDC and a District Planning Committee (DPC).

The J&K administration has also amended the J&K Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, to provide for establishment of elected District Development Councils in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

This system effectively replaces the District Planning and Development Boards in all districts, and will prepare and approve district plans and capital expenditure. Their key feature, however, is that the DDCs will have elected representatives from each district. Their number has been specified at 14 elected members per district representing its rural areas, alongside the Members of Legislative Assembly chairpersons of all Block Development Councils within the district.