Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday stated that the current five-year term of the elected District Development Councils (DDCs) will officially end on February 24, 2026.
According to an official order issued by the General Administration Department, the term of the Councils is set to conclude on the aforementioned date.
The order, citing a legal opinion from the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, clarifies that the tenure is governed by the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996.
Earlier, in an order issued by the Department of Rural Development and the Department of Panchayati Raj issued a statement, stating: “Kind attention is invited towards the captioned subject. In this regard, it is to inform that as per the opinion rendered by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, citing relevant provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996 (Sub-Rule (2) and (3) of Rule 108ZP), the term of the DDCs commences from the date of issuance of the notification constituting the Councils (February 25, 2021). Accordingly, the Councils shall cease to exist with effect from February 24, 2026,” the order reads.
The government has directed concerned authorities to inform the respective Chairpersons and members of the DDCs in their districts about the completion of their term.
Notably, the DDCs, a key third tier of the grassroots democratic framework in Jammu and Kashmir, were constituted for the first time following elections held in November-December 2020.
This was the last remnant of local governance, as there have already been no Panchayat polls or elections to municipalities and other local bodies.
District Development Councils were the only localised governing bodies, and with the end of the tenure, J&K’s democracy has again been left to the Assembly alone.
