India, Jan. 28 -- Jammu and Kashmir's three-tier panchayati raj system is headed for a collapse this February as the term of the District Development Councils (DDCs) draws to a close, with the UT administration showing no urgency to conduct fresh elections. Since the terms of panchayats and block development councils (BDCs) ended two years ago, the exit of the DDCs will leave the region without any local elected grassroots representation for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Following the 2020 DDC elections, the first held after Jammu and Kashmir became a Union Territory, the Centre had frequently cited the completion of the three-tier system as a hallmark of its democratic outreach. However, that structu...