One-day poll to J&K block development councils (BDC), oath likely before October 15

NEW DELHI | SRINAGAR: Elections to all the 316 block development councils (BDC) in J&K will be conducted in a day and office-bearers are likely to take oath before October 15, senior officials in J&K administration said. The chief electoral office of J&K has worked out a tentative schedule for the elections, the officials said.

Speaking to ET over phone, J&K rural development secretary Sheetal Nanda said: “We have been getting representation from village representatives for holding BDC elections at the earliest. The first step is to complete the (process on seat) reservations across the valley and the Jammu division. We hope to hold the elections by the end of September.”

Officials in New Delhi said the elections will ensure supervision and monitoring of various developmental schemes, administrative and technical guidance of panchayats and periodical reviews of their work. It will help supervise plans relating to agriculture, rural development and animal husbandry, social forestry, education and public health, they added.


On Thursday, J&K governor SP Malik rolled out a special intervention scheme for apple growers. The scheme, Malik said, was aimed at providing maximum price to growers. Nafed will procure and market apples and the growers will get better remuneration, as per an official statement. The scheme will benefit over 3 million farmers, said J&K principal secretary (planning & development) Rohit Kansal. He said there would be no compulsion on farmers to sell their produce under this arrangement. The rates would be to incentivise their sales and the scheme would leave no scope for distress sale, he said.

The authorities have identified four collection centres at the fruit mandis of Parimpora, Sopore, Shopian and Botengoo, Kansal said.