Local Body Election in Kerala
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Panchayat Elections is a term widely used in Kerala, India, for the polls that are held to select the Local Self-government Representatives. There are three branches of local self-government institutions in Kerala. They are Grama Panchayat which can be translated as Village Government, Block Panchayat and District Panchayat. A Grama Panchayat is almost an eqvalant to City administration in United States and District Panchayat to a County. There are two more wings namely Municipality which is another form of Block Panchayat that exists only in major towns and Corporations that come only in four major cities.
The State has 999 Grama Panchayats, 152 Block Panchayats, 14 District Panchayats, 53 Municipalities and 5 Corporations. Consequent to the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India, the Local self-government Institutions (LSGIs) are to function as the third tier of Government. In Kerala, LSGIs have been meaningfully empowered through massive transfer of resources as well as administrative powers. Coupled with a grassroots level approach of Participatory Planning whereby the developmental programmes are identified and implemented through Grama Sabhas (Ward councils), the LSGIs have emerged as effective agencies for the implementation of developmental programmes.
[edit] Dates
The last Election to the Local Self-government Institutions in Kerla (Panchayat Elections) was held on September 24 and September 26, 2005. Elections to the local bodies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts were held on September 24 and to those in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts in the second stage on September 26. Elections were held for 16,139 grama panchayat (village self-government body), 2,004 block panchayat, 339 district panchayat, 1,725 municipality and 316 municipal corporation wards.
