In Jammu and Kashmir, the Panchayati Raj system will come to an end today, as the last remaining tier – the District Development Councils – complete their term. An Akashvani Jammu correspondent reports that the District Development Councils will conclude their five-year tenure, marking the end of the third tier of the Panchayati Raj system in J&K. The Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Javaid Ahmad Dar, stated that there is no need to assign functions to officers for the DDCs, as no such provision exists in the law. The terms of the first two tiers of the Panchayati Raj system – Panchayats and Block Development Councils – ended on January 9, 2024, while the tenure of Urban Local Bodies concluded in October–November 2023. The elected DDCs were established in 2020 after the Union Home Ministry amended the J&K Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, by invoking powers granted to it under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. Each DDC consists of 14 elected members. With J&K having 20 districts, the total number of DDC members is 280. In the first-ever DDC elections held in November–December 2020, the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) won 110 seats, while the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats. In the subsequent DDC chairperson elections, the NC gained control of six councils, the BJP six, the Apni Party two, and the PDP, PC, and CPI (M) one each. In three other districts, independent candidates were elected as chairpersons.
