Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 5: All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC), a frontline organization of elected Panchs and Sarpanchs, today pinned high hopes on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Jammu and Kashmir on November 7 and said it would give a new pace to development projects across the State.
In a press statement issued here, Anil Sharma, AJKPC president, expressed optimism that the Prime Minister’s visit would create an atmosphere of unification and integration of all the three regions of the State and it would also give a new boost to the pace of developmental projects in the State.
Mr Sharma, on behalf of 33,000 elected Panchayat members in Jammu and Kashmir, said they were also expecting good news about empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the State and he would lay a thrust on giving more powers to these democratic grassroots institutions.
He pointed out that although the BJP-PDP coalition, in their agenda of alliance, have promised decentralization of decision making powers to the Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations, it is yet to be implemented on the ground.
The AJKPC leader said the elections of Rural Local Bodies and Urban Local Bodies, whenever are held in the State, must be conducted only after incorporation of the 73rd and 74th Amendments in the J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989.
“It would be futile to conduct elections without incorporating these important provisions,” he said, adding that the previous NC-Congress Govt cheated the people and the elected Panchayat members.
The Panchayat leader said, “Modi and Mufti are men of words and there is no reason not to believe them. Therefore, the AJKPC is eagerly waiting for Prime Minister’s visit to the State as he has personally showed keen interest in decentralization of powers to grassroots level institutions for their effective functioning,” Mr Sharma said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel