The Cabinet has approved a draft Ordinance for winding up the process of delimiting local body wards and facilitating the conduct of elections due in October on the basis of the existing wards.
The government had earlier amended the Kerala Panchayati Raj Act and the Kerala Municipality Act by adding one ward each to all rural and urban local bodies.
A Delimitation Commission was also constituted for carving the new wards ahead of the local body elections. The commission had issued mandatory orders and started training sessions for secretaries of local bodies.
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the secretaries who hold the pivot of the delimitation process were tasked with the conduct of community kitchens and other virus containment activities and the government had no option but to shelve the process.
CM’s stance
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan clarified on Wednesday that the thrust was on conducting the elections on time, before the tenure of the incumbent committees expired and hence the process had been dropped.
As per the amendment to the Acts, the minimum number of wards in block and grama panchayats was fixed at 14 and maximum at 24. The minimum in municipalities was fixed at 26 and maximum at 53, in district panchayats it was 17 and 33 respectively and Corporations 56 and 101 respectively.
The draft Ordinance has reduced one ward each in the maximum and minimum numbers. On promulgating the Ordinance, the State Election Commission would be able to conduct the election without delimitation.
The Delimitation Commission would be dissolved in due course since the entire process had been shelved.
