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Officials told that though a three-member OBC Commission led by a former high court judge, Janak Raj Kotwal, had submitted its report on the matter to the government in February last year, a decision is yet to be taken on it.

“Without OBC reservation, which, according to the Panchayati Raj Act, has to be in proportion to the population in every Panchayat, we cannot hold elections to the rural local bodies,’’ an official in the State Election Commission (SEC) told .

At present, J&K is without any elected local body as all the three tiers of the Panchayati Raj institutions have become non-existent in the UT.

The term of the erstwhile Panchayats and Block Development Councils (BDCs) in J&K concluded on January 9, 2024. Before that, the municipalities completed their term in October-November 2023. The term of District Development Councils drew to a close on February 24, 2026.

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According to the Panchayati Raj Act, the dates for holding elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions are to be finalised by the government in consultation with the SEC, officials pointed out.

The SEC said it has repeatedly informed the government that all the requisite exercises for the conduct of rural local body elections have been completed. The poll body has asked the government to inform it a month or two in advance about the dates when the election would be held, it said.

The government, though, seems non-committal on it as yet.

Last month, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that local bodies elections will be held at “an appropriate time” — curiously repeating the words used by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders when asked about the restoration of statehood to J&K.

Recently, J&K Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Javid Ahmed Dar, also told media persons that the panchayat elections will certainly be held in the UT, but at an appropriate time.

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Talking to , Minister Dar repeated the assertion, adding, “We have received the OBC Commission’s report regarding the reservation.”

He said, “The report will be placed before the Cabinet for consideration and thereafter, there will be delimitation and reservation of panchayat constituencies, paving the way for elections to rural local bodies.”

A senior official said that the SEC, at a meeting with the J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo in August, said if the government wanted to hold the elections this year, it should convey the decision to the poll body, latest by September. This is because the elections need to be held before the harsh winter months set in, the official added.

The SEC needs at least one-and-a-half to two months to hold elections as it has to make many last-minute preparations such as finalisation of polling booths, and purchase of poll-related material, among others, the official said.

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“The panchayats have their own, well-maintained, separate electoral rolls and if the government says yes, we will have their summary revision and hold the elections in November,’’ the official said.

As for the municipal elections, officials said these cannot be held even if the government takes a decision on the issue of OBC reservation.

Explaining it, an official said the municipal elections are to be held on the basis of electoral rolls of the legislative assembly constituencies, which have not been updated so far. These will be revised in the UT only after the SIR is held.

“So, the SEC cannot hold elections to urban local bodies in the UT even if the government decides the issue of OBC reservation,’’ he added.