Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Wednesday returned two controversial ordinances that aimed to add one ward to each local body ahead of the elections scheduled for December 2025.
Returning the ordinance introduced by the government to the chief secretary, Khan said they required the approval of the Election Commission as the code of conduct is in place.
The ordinances sought to amend the Kerala Panchayati Raj and Kerala Municipality Act of 1994. The wards and boundaries in each local body are to be demarcated according to the 2011 population survey, as the 2021 census was not conducted.
The government has agreed to complete the process within a year. Elections will be held in December 2025, with new local representatives to be elected based on the newly defined wards.
Currently, gram and block panchayats have 13 to 23 wards, which was proposed to be increased to 14 to 24 in the ordinances. District panchayats could see an increase from 16 to 32 divisions to 17 to 33 divisions. In municipalities, the number of wards would rise to 26 to 53 from 25 to 52. Corporations would see an increase from 55 to 100 wards to 56 to 101 wards, when the Ordinance is promulgated.
In the state, there are currently 15,962 wards in 941 gram panchayats and 2,080 divisions in 152 block panchayats. The number of wards in 87 municipalities is 3,113, and there are 414 wards in six corporations.
Once the ordinances are notified by the governor, the government will appoint a Delimitation Commission consisting of four IAS officers of the rank of secretary to oversee the changes.