Jammu and Kashmir will hold its first local body elections since 2011 from October 1. Elections for municipal bodies will take place in four phases between October 1 and October 5, and panchayats will vote in eight phases between November 8 and December 4, IANS reported.

The announcement was made by the Jammu and Kashmir State Administrative Council, headed by new Governor Satya Pal Malik, on Friday. The state has been under Governor’s Rule for the last two months.

The council has asked the state’s chief electoral officer to fix the polling schedule keeping in view security and operational requirements. It has also decided to grant insurance cover and a month’s extra salary to staff involved in the elections, an official spokesperson told Greater Kashmir.

NN Vohra, who was the governor until last week, had said in his Independence Day speech that the local body elections will begin in September. “Elections to urban local bodies and panchayats have been pending for long,” he had said. “The prolonged delay in the establishment of democratically elected self-governing bodies...has resulted in the loss of considerable funds that would have become available if elections had been held.”

The elections will “pave the way for the restoration of peace and normalcy” in the state, Vohra had said.