Civic polls likely after Diwali, state sets Sept 4 deadline to fix final wards
Pune: The state govt on Thursday directed municipal corporations, including those in Mumbai, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, to complete the delimitation process and publish the final wards by Sept 4.
Civic officials said the local polls are likely to be held at the end of Oct or early Nov after Diwali which concludes on Oct 23, this year.
A senior Pune Municipal Corporation official said the exact date will be difficult to forecast but 55 to 60 days will be needed to complete the process from the final delimitation to the actual conduct of polls.
"So there is high probability that the new elected members will be sworn in after Diwali," he added.
A day after the state govt's directives, PMC started preparations for the delimitation of wards for the civic election on Wednesday. It will be held as per the four-member ward system.
According to the directives, the process of municipal elections will involve three main stages— the formation of wards, determining reservations, and dividing the assembly voters' list by wards, as well as conducting the actual election.
The process of ward formation will be carried out based on a population of 34.8 lakh as per the 2011 census.
Each four-member ward will represent a voter population of around 84,000 to 92,000. The new body of PMC will have 165 members.
After the delimitation process, steps like the declaration of ward reservation, finalising the voters' list, and the polling process will be decided.
Draft For Approval After July 8
Formation of enumerators groups and preparation of draft ward structure will start
Verification of census data on June 17 and 18
Site inspections between June 19 and 23
Preparation of drafts using Google Maps from June 24 to 30
Their verification between July 1 and 3
The draft will be sent for the state's approval after July 8
Suggestions and objections after publication from July 22 to 31
Hearings from Aug 1 to 11
The final drafts will be published by Sept via a notification by the state election commission
quote
The administration has appointed a special team to complete the process in time. A team of 20 people is dedicated to the delimitation process
Prasad Katkar I Election Officer of PMC
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