Governmental delay in completing official procedures on time is reported to have left the Delimitation Commission, constituted for redrawing the boundaries of local body divisions, clueless about its immediate course of action.
The commission, which had its maiden meeting here on Friday, is understood to have dispersed without getting down to serious business.
Though the Cabinet had cleared the formation of new local bodies a fortnight ago, the decision has not been notified so far.
The Cabinet has not yet fixed the strength of voters in each ward. As per rules, the government should complete such procedures and inform the commission to enable it to commence the real task of delimitation.
700 proposals
Though the government had received 700 delimitation proposals, the political leadership had decided to limit the number to 254.
This includes formation of new municipalities, corporations, and panchayats.
The decision to form new local bodies without taking the incumbent government committees into confidence had already drawn flak and many of them had resolved to seek a legal recourse against the ‘unilateral decision’ of the government.
Notification of new local bodies would inevitably lead to a flurry of petitions. The court would hear the petitions only after the government issued the final notification.
The government and the commission would then be left with the onerous task of clearing the legal hurdles, sources said.
Delimitation of a ward or formation of a new municipality or a panchayat cannot be done in isolation.
A structural change at a ward or local body level would necessitate a total change in the entire pattern in a district.
Structural changes
For, consequent to the changes at the grassroots level, structural changes will have to be made at the block and district level. This demands thorough discussions and public hearings at different levels.
The commission may find it tough to clear the air and start its real task within the available time. This may even force the government to defer the elections at least for a month.
If the government fails to reach a consensus on such issues within a week, the entire delimitation process would be derailed, the sources said.
Cabinet yet to fix strength of voters in wards
Notification of new bodies can create legal issues
