Officials to be in charge of local bodies if polls postponed
As uncertainty looms over the local body elections due to the COVID-19 spread this year, the officials are likely to be in charge for a longer period.
As uncertainty looms over the local body elections due to the COVID-19 spread this year, the officials are likely to be in charge for a longer period.
As uncertainty looms over the local body elections due to the COVID-19 spread this year, the officials are likely to be in charge for a longer period.
Thiruvananthapuram: Even if the local body polls are postponed in Kerala, the term of the governing councils will end on November 11. Therefore, officials will be in charge of the local bodies till the new governing council is elected. The government will have to issue a notification for this.
As per the Panchayat Raj Act 1994 and Kerala Municipality Act, the term of the elected governing councils is for five years from the day they assume office. After this period, the rules stipulate that the local body should be under the charge of officials. For this, a special officer or a governing council of at least three government officers are designated. The government notification will specify which all officials will be given the charge.
All governing councils, other than the Mattannur municipality, assumed office on November 12, 2015. The dates for the local body polls are yet to be announced. The State Election Commission has to take a decision on whether to postpone the polls. Both government and the opposition are in favour of postponing the polls amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Commission has called for a meeting of the political parties on September 18. The Commission's decision would be announced on that day or later.
If the decision is to postpone the elections, the government will issue notification on the officials.
The bureaucratic rule had been implemented at the local bodies earlier too. In 2015, the officials were in charge of the local bodies for 11 days. In 2010, the governing council assumed office on November 1 instead of October 2 as the election got delayed due to the ward delimitation. And therefore, special officers were appointed for the local bodies for a month. When the election got delayed in 2005 due to problems in renewing the voters' list, the officials performed the duties of the governing council.
As uncertainty looms over the local body elections due to the COVID-19 spread this year, the officials are likely to be in charge for a longer period.
Local self-government bodies in Kerala - 14 district panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 941 panchayats, 87 municipalities and 6 corporations.
(Of this, the election to all local bodies, other than Mattannur municipality in Kannur, has to be conducted immediately. The governing council of Mattannur, which was upgraded to a municipality from panchayat, has a tenure of two more years.)