A decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here today, official sources said.
The meeting decided to bring an ordinance for providing reservation to schedule castes, schedule tribes and women in block development councils.
It was also decided to defer the BDC polls till a fresh notification is issued.
While National Conference, the major partner in the ruling coalition, had urged the political parties to allow the BDC elections to go ahead as per provisions of the existing Panchayati Raj Act, junior partner Congress and opposition parties had demanded reservations for backward classes before the polls.