Itanagar, Oct 22: Elections to Panchayati Raj institutions and Municipal bodies in Itanagar and Pasighat are likely to be held in December next.
In this connection, the State Election Commission has directed the concerned officials across Arunachal Pradesh to prepare for the poll process and reserve seats for women in Zilla Parishads, Gram Panchayats, and the Urban Local Bodies, and then issue notifications as per the provisions of the relevant Acts and Rules.
Officials said the process to determine seats reserved for women candidates in the upcoming local body polls in Changlang, Itanagar, Keyi Panyor and Kurung Kumey districts will be carried out through open draws of lots on October 28 and 29.
In Changlang, the draw will be held on October 28. Deputy Commissioner Vishal Sah, who is also the District Election Officer, has urged Additional Deputy Commissioners and representatives of political parties to attend the draw of lots.
In Itanagar, the draw for reservation of seats in the urban local body will be conducted at the Pare Hall of the DK State Convention Centre at 11 am on October 28. The exercise is being carried out in accordance with Section 15 (2) of the Arunachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 2019, which mandates the reservation of one-third of the total seats for women belonging to the Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe.
In Keyi Panyor, the draw will be conducted on October 29 in the conference hall of the Deputy Commissioner's office at Yachuli. The exercise is being undertaken under Rule 5 and Rule 12 of the Arunachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj (Delimitation of Constituencies and Reservation of Seats for Women) Rules, 2002, as amended up to 2019.
Similarly, in Kurung Kumey district, the District Election Officer has notified that the draw of lots for reservation of ZP, GP and GPC seats will be held on October 28 at the DC's conference hall, Koloriang. The process will cover 3-Lower Koloriang and 4-Upper Koloriang Zilla Parishad constituencies.
The entire exercise is a time-bound matter, and reports will be submitted the same day to enable the issuance of the official notification by October 30, as per the directives of the SEC.