Panchayat dissolution triggers administration takeover; government readies for general elections

In a letter issued by the joint director of Rural Development and Panchayat Department after facing criticism in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for dissolving all panchayats in August 2023 to replace them with administrators, the government is now preparing for general elections in the state.

The Punjab government is handling the matter of conducting panchayat elections. Instead of issuing an order to dissolve all panchayats and appoint administrators, as initially planned in August 2023, the Rural Development and Panchayat Department has now instructed to provide information on those panchayats whose first meeting has completed five years by January 16th. This will enable the appointment of administrators.

The joint director of Rural Development and Panchayat Department has emphasized ensuring that officers verify that the first meeting of the respective panchayat has indeed completed five years when submitting information. The letter also instructs providing the exact date of the pending meeting.

This letter gains significance as the government initially dissolved all panchayats in August 2023, but retracted the decision when faced with challenges. This caused considerable turmoil in the government.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann suspended two senior IAS officers, D.K. Tiwari, Chief Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayat Department, and Gurpreet Singh Khehra, the director of the department, on August 31, 2023. Although their suspension was revoked a month later, the government has not assigned them any new postings yet.
Not only did the government face criticism for the wrong decision to dissolve panchayats, but also due to the leak of files related to orders with Chief Minister Mann›s signatures. The leak provided an opportunity for the opposition to attack the government. Interestingly, on the day Tiwari was suspended, he was abroad.

The government›s response to suspending officials faced a challenge in the High Court from Gurjit Singh Talwandi, the Secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal. In court, he argued that all gram panchayats in the state were illegally dissolved before the completion of their terms. Talwandi argued that by using the powers under Section 29E of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, the gram panchayats were unlawfully dissolved.