PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun The vacation of stay on the holding of the elections of the Panchayati Raj bodies in 12 districts of the State (barring Haridwar) by the Uttarakhand High Court on Friday has come as a major relief for the State government. The government became active after the HC ordered stay on the Panchayat elections due to lack of clarity on reservation in the Panchayat posts on June 23. Following the order of the court, the State Election Commission had deferred the process of the commencement of the nomination for the elections in the State till further orders. The HC’s vacation of stay on Friday however has paved the way for the Panchayat elections in the month of July itself. The tenure of the three-tier Panchayati Raj bodies- Gram Panchayat, block Panchayat and district Panchayat- had ended in November 2024 in 12 districts of the State. Since the government could not conduct elections due to various reasons it appointed administrators in the Panchayat bodies in these districts for a period of six months. Bowing to the demand of the elected representatives the government appointed village Pradhans as administrator in Gram Panchayat, block Pramukhs in blocks and district Panchayat presidents in the district Panchayat. The six month tenure of these administrators ended in May this year but the election schedule was not declared which prompted the government to appoint officers of the State administration as administrators. Meanwhile, based on the report of the dedicated one man commission the government formulated the Uttarakhand Gram Panchayat, block Panchayat and district Panchayat (reservation and allotment of seats and offices) Rules 2025 and reserved seats in the Panchayat bodies. On June 21, the State Election Commission issued notification for the elections. As per the schedule of SEC, the voting was to be held in two phases- July 10 and July 15. However the process of reserving seats in the Panchayat bodies was challenged by many petitioners. Hearing their plea, the HC took note of the fact that the State government had not issued gazette notification of the Uttarakhand Gram Panchayat, block Panchayat and district Panchayat (reservation and allotment of seats and offices) Rules 2025 and ordered a stay on allotment of reservation for post of Gram Pradhans, members of block Panchayat and members of District Panchayat on June 23. Following the explanation by the advocate general and standing counsels, the HC vacated the stay on these elections on Friday.
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