Panchayat members stage protest
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 9: All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) today declared that around 45,000 elected Sarpanchs and Panchs across the State will boycott Assembly elections if the Centre and the State Governments do not empower Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) before conduct of that process.
The AJKPC, the main body of elected Panchayat members in the state, also demanded that the Assembly polls in J&K should be deferred till the Panchayats are not fully empowered.
Hundreds of elected Panchayat members from various districts of Jammu region under the leadership of Anil Sharma, state president AJKPC assembled at Dogra Chowk here and staged a protest demonstration against the Centre and the State administration for their failure of incorporate 73rd Amendment of Indian Constitution in the J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989 in toto.
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The protesting Sarpanchs and Panchs raised slogans against the State administration and demanded fulfillment of their demands without any delay. The protesters also took out a rally and blocked Tawi bridge that disrupted the traffic for quite some time.
The protesters said that the state’s political class lacks will and determination to empower the Panchayati Raj system. The Centre should continue the President’s Rule and take all necessary measures to fully empower the PRIs in the state.
“We appeal to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Centre and the State administration to defer the Assembly polls till the PRIs in the state are fully empowered, ” Anil Sharma, state president AJKPC said.
Sharma demanded that State administration should immediately constitute Block Development Councils (BDCs) and District Development Planning Boards (DDPBs) to establish three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the state. All the provisions of 73rd Amendment should be extended to J&K in toto to have separate Finance and Election Commissions for Panchayats in the state.
He also demanded monthly salary rather than honorarium and Rs 25 lakhs as Panchayat Development Fund per year in favour of elected Panchayat members.
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