The Jharkhand government is likely to bring in an ordinance soon to ensure that panchayati raj institutions can continue functioning in the state.

The present term of the rural bodies expires on July 15. “We will surely find a way out before that,” state rural development and panchayati raj minister Alamgir Alam told The Telegraph.

Sources said an ordinance is being considered unavoidable because the panchayat elections that were due in December last year could not been held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the term of the office-bearers of the rural bodies was scheduled to end by the first week of January this year, the government took a decision to set up working committees with the elected representatives as members for another six months, expecting the panchayat elections would be conducted within that time. But the polls could not be conducted as the country and the state had to grapple with the ravaging second wave of the pandemic and the situation remains far from favourable for holding elections to nearly 4,400 gram panchayats and other rural bodies at block and district levels.

The situation has put the government in a fix. While the term of the working committees constituted in January expires on July 15, the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act also does not have any provision for granting a second extension of their term.

Asked if the issue was taken up at the state cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Alam said: “It would have been done but we had to withhold because approval from certain other departments couldn’t be received.”

“At this stage, passing an ordinance seems like the only alternative left,” said Ajay Kumar Singh, mukhiya of Bundu panchayat under Petarwar block of Bokaro district which has won national awards for best performing rural bodies in different categories.

“Its true that the situation is not favourable for holding panchayat polls. But the government also couldn’t keep development process in rural areas on hold indefinitely,” he said.

“Besides, the Centre would not release more funds for rural development if the previous allotment was not spent under the supervision of elected representatives and unless the utilisation reports were signed by them,” he added.

He also pointed out that the absence of panchayat bodies would mean that the government would be deprived of the contributions of a huge number of representatives at the gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zilla parishad level who implement welfare schemes in rural areas.

“But an ordinance is surely not a solution and the panchayat elections have to be held whenever the situation improves,” Singh said, adding that he hoped the pandemic would end soon.