CHENNAI: The State Election Commission (SEC) has stepped up efforts to complete the delimitation of wards, a key prerequisite for holding the local body elections in the state.
The SEC is currently undertaking the delimitation of ward boundaries for 11 district panchayats, 40 panchayat unions and 177 village panchayats.
State Election Commissioner B Jothi Nirmalasamy on Tuesday directed officials to expedite the work. The direction was issued during a meeting of the delimitation commission in Chennai. The commission also decided to recommend to the government the finalisation of the number of members to be elected to the local bodies.
The tenure of elected representatives in rural local bodies across 28 districts ended on January 5, 2025, following which special officers have been administering them. In the remaining districts, the tenure of representatives will end on October 19.
Tenure of urban local body representatives will end on March 1, 2027. “The delimitation panel is regularising the newly-created local bodies by fixing their ward boundaries. The population as per the 2011 Census is being used as the basis for the exercise. Only after delimitation is completed can reservations for women and SC/ST candidates be finalised,” an official said.
