Srinagar, Jan 27: The Jammu and Kashmir government has formally notified that the tenure of District Development Councils (DDCs) would end on February 24, 2026, directing chief executive officers (CEOs) to inform the chairpersons and members about the completion of their five-year term.
In a communication issued by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, the CEOs, who are the Additional District Development Commissioners (ADDCs) of the respective districts, have been asked to convey the decision to the elected representatives.
ìAs per the opinion rendered by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, citing Sub-Rules (2) and (3) of Rule 108ZP of the J&K Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, the term of the DDCs commenced from the date of issuance of the notification constituting the councils, that is, February 25, 2021. Accordingly, the councils shall cease to exist with effect from February 24, 2026,î the letter states.
With the completion of the DDC tenure, all three tiers of the Panchayati Raj system in J&K would cease to exist.
The terms of the first two tiers, Halqa Panchayats and Block Development Councils (BDCs), have already ended.
Greater Kashmir had earlier reported that such a decision was imminent.
In its front-page report ëGovernance Overlap: Created in crisis, DDCs may be buried by consensusí published on June 11, 2025, Greater Kashmir had highlighted that the future of DDCs was uncertain amid governance overlaps, administrative redundancy, and a growing consensus within official circles on reworking the local governance framework.
The report had noted that the DDCs, created in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 through amendments carried out by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, were increasingly seen as an interim arrangement.
It had also underlined concerns within the administration about duplication of roles between DDCs, district administrations, and other local bodies, as well as the absence of timely elections to the lower tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
The formal notification issued now comes over seven months after Greater Kashmir flagged the likelihood of the DDCs being wound up at the end of their tenure, making the newspaper significantly ahead in reporting the development.
Each DDC comprises 14 elected members, and with 20 districts in J&K, the total strength of elected DDC members stood at 280.
In the first-ever DDC elections held in November-December 2020, the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) secured 110 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats.
The end of the DDC tenure is expected to revive the debate on the future structure of grassroots governance in J&K and the roadmap for fresh local body elections.
