Guwahati, Aug 1 (IANS): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday that the draft for delimitation of panchayats will be published on August 30 and following a public hearing, the final notification will be released on September 17.

In Assam, panchayat elections that have been overdue for the past year are scheduled for December this year.

According to Chief Minister Sarma, delimitation of Gaon panchayats (GP) started in the third week of July, and the draft would be released on August 30.

On September 6, block reorganisation and Anchalik Panchayat (AP) delimitation will take place.

On the same day, Zilla Parishad (ZP) delimitation and the publication of a draft ZP delimitation will also take place.

The district administrations will arrange a public hearing on the delimitation exercise between September 7 and 16.

The final notification of the whole process will be published on September 17.

The Chief Minister mentioned that delimitation at panchayat levels will be done aligning with the pattern of Assembly constituencies and the exercise will boost governance at the grassroots level.

Taking to X, CM Sarma wrote, "To strengthen democracy at the grassroots and boost governance at local level, closely aligned with present day constituencies, we are undertaking a delimitation exercise of GPs, APs and ZPs which will be followed by panchayat elections within December this year."