The Jharkhand government is mulling to bring in a special ordinance to extend the tenure of the panchayat bodies in the state for another six months considering the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which has prevented the election, state rural development cum parliamentary affairs ministerAlamgir Alamsaid.
Alam said, The panchayatpollsare overdue as we couldnt hold it in December last year because of the pandemic. In January this year, the gave a six-month extension to the panchayat bodies to keep them operational. But with the second wave of Covid-19, we cannot hold the election this time, too. As per the rules of the Panchayati Raj Act, there is no provision to provide another extension. Therefore, we are considering to provide another extension through a special ordinance.