Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) ShailendraKumar today called on Lt Governor G C Murmu here and informed him about the preparations for the elections to vacant seats of panchayats and block development councils (BDCs) in the Union Territory, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said. According to officials, the elections to the nearly 13,000 vacant posts of panch and sarpanch in gram panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to beheld next month and a notification is this regard is expected to be issued on January 25.

Kumar briefed the Lt governor about the various activities undertaken by the Election Commission in Jammu and Kashmir for generatingawareness of the electoral process and sensitising the voters especially newly eligible young voters towards their voting rights, the spokesman said. The CEOalso briefed Murmu about the arrangements being made for the celebrations ofthe upcoming National Voters' Day, he said.

The Lt governor asked Kumar to lay special focus onincreasing the enrolment of eligible voters and stressed on the importance ofeducating the voters about the value of the electoral process to strengthen theroots of the democratic setup, the spokesman said. A Home Ministry officiallast week had said the entire election process is expected to be over byFebruary end.

The posts were lying vacant since November 2018 when theelections to the local bodies were held. Out of Kashmir's 20,093 panch andsarpanch seats, more than 12,500 seats have remained vacant since then. The2018 polls to the local bodies had witnessed poor participation with two majorregional political parties -- the National Conference and the PeoplesDemocratic Party -- boycotting it.