Shimla: With the five-year tenure of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across Himachal Pradesh ending on Saturday — barring a few areas — the state govt has constituted committees to exercise the powers and functions of gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads until fresh elections are held.Himachal Pradesh has 3,577 gram panchayats. As per a notification issued by the panchayati raj department, the term of existing PRI representatives — except in Keylong sub-division, Lahaul-Spiti zila parishad, Pangi sub-division of Chamba district, and four gram panchayats in Kullu district — expired on January 31. However, elections to PRIs could not be held due to the enforcement of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in the state until now. Consequently, under Sections 120 and 128 of the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, these PRIs are now deemed dissolved.
The Himachal Pradesh high court has already directed the state govt to complete the process for elections to the PRIs before April 30.To manage the gram panchayats, a committee led by the block development officer (BDO), with the panchayat secretary as a member, was formed. Similarly, the panchayat samiti committee would be chaired by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the panchayat samiti, and its members would be the social education and block planning officer (SEBPO) or nominee, with members including the panchayat inspector or sub-inspector as member secretary (or nominee if posts are vacant). The zila parishad committee would be chaired by the CEO of zila parishad and its members would be the district development officer and district panchayat officer as member secretary.For handling central finance commission grants, the member secretary will act as maker, while the chairperson serves as checker for each panchayat. These committees will ensure uninterrupted administration and governance of local bodies until new elected representatives of PRIs take over. MSID:: 127820701 413 |
