Panchayat polls: Demarcation of wards by Dec end

The government has issued directions to complete demarcation of wards for the panchayat elections by December 31, he said.

"We would handover it to the election office to conduct the elections, as the polls are scheduled for May 15 and 31, next year," he told reporters here.

For the first time in Punjab, panchayat elections will be held through wards, and every ward would elect its panch, while sarpanchs will be elected through direct polls, he said.

The elections of all the 141 Panchayats would be held before May 15 and that of 12,775 village panchayats before May 30.

He asserted that the delimitation of all the 12,885 villages of the state was in progress and would be completed by December 31.

Panchayti Raj Act 1994 has been amended by Punjab Vidhan Sabha for the direct election of Sarpanches.