Sitting pradhans to lead village governance till fresh panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow (Raghwendra Pratap Singh) :

With the tenure of gram panchayats constituted after the 2021 panchayat elections ending on May 26, 2026, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to appoint existing village heads (gram pradhans) as administrators to ensure continuity of routine administrative work until newly elected Gram Panchayats are formed. This is the first time in the state’s history that pradhans have been appointed administrators for the interim period.

According to an order issued by principal secretary (Panchayati Raj) Anil Kumar here on Monday evening, the decision has been taken under provisions of the UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, which allows the government to appoint an administrative committee or administrator when fresh elections cannot be conducted before the expiry of the existing term due to unavoidable circumstances or in the public interest.

As the term of elected members comes to an end on May 26, the government has decided that from May 27 onwards, incumbent gram pradhans will function as administrators for a period until the first meeting of newly constituted gram panchayats after the 2026 elections, or for a maximum of six months, whichever is earlier. District magistrates have been authorised to nominate the administrators in their respective districts.

The order, however, makes it clear that the administrators will only handle routine administrative matters and not be empowered to take policy decisions. In exceptional and urgent circumstances requiring policy-level decisions, proposals would have to be routed through the district panchayat raj officer (DPRO) and placed before the district magistrate for approval.

The move is aimed at avoiding any administrative vacuum in village-level governance while ensuring that day-to-day functioning of gram panchayats continues uninterrupted until fresh elected bodies assume office,” Kumar said.

The three-tier rural polls in UP are expected to be held only after assembly elections. The five-year term of kshetra panchayats and zila panchayats will end in July. Pradhans, who often play a key role in mobilising voters at the village level, form an influential network of around 58,000 elected representatives across Uttar Pradesh. The move is seen as a bid to retain the BJP’s grassroots network before the 2027 assembly polls.