Nagpur: Umred APMC gears up for delayed polls amid pandemic

Due to the disruptions caused by Covid-19, the schedule for the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) elections has been announced after a three-year gap. The delay was caused by two years of inactivity followed by almost a year of administrative work due to the pandemic. As a result, all stakeholders are now gearing up for the prestigious polls at Umred APMC.

In this year's market committee elections, farmers from Umred tehsil will be able to file nominations in the category of gram panchayats and service cooperatives. To be eligible to contest the polls, farmers must have a 7/12 abstract in their name. This opportunity has increased the number of potential candidates in these two groups.

An intriguing election will take place for a total of 18 seats, with 11 of them reserved for service cooperative societies. Among the 11 seats, two are reserved for women, one for scheduled tribes (ST), one for Other Backward Classes (OBC), and seven for general groups. In Umred tehsil, there are 36 service cooperative societies, and the total number of eligible voters is 467.

The Umred tehsil comprises a total of 48 Gram panchayats with a combined voter count of 4,44. Four seats will be contested in this group, with two seats reserved for the general category and one each for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Economically Weaker Sections.

Two seats in the traders category will be contested, with a total of 127 voters participating, including 78 blocks and 49 traders. The porter group has only one candidate to be elected from a total of 189 voters.

Nominations can be filed till April 12

• Candidates can submit their applications in the office of the Assistant Registrar till April 12 between 11 am to 3 am.
• Scrutiny will be done on April 13 and the final list of candidates will be announced on April 17.
• Nominations can be withdrawn on May 2 and the distribution of election symbols will be done on May 3. Voting will be done through ballot papers on May 13, and the counting of votes will be held the next day May 14.

Income limit for EWS category raised

• For the economically weaker section of the Gram Panchayat Constituency, ownership of five acres of agriculture, as well as the annual income limit has been raised to Rs 8 lakh.
• Earlier, the limit was very low, besides there was a pre-condition of ownership of agricultural land. This will lead to a crowding of candidates in this group as every farmer has a 7/12 abstract in his or her name.