Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 12: Describing it a move in the right direction to have elected bodies at the grass root level, the former Union Minister, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta said that this would not only help in accelerating the development activities but also in harmonizing the society as a whole. To this end proper guidance would be needed to enforce the rules and regulations.
In a statement issued here, today Prof. Gupta said to have this Gram Swaraj is an old concept and the Maharaja Hari Singh had adopted the Panchayat Act as far back as in 1935. But unfortunately the politicians who came to power after independence of the country with charming slogans of Lokraj by ending the dynastic rule forgot all this but to enforce their own dynasties.
In this regard, Prof. Gupta recalled that these new rulers except making some lofty statements never bothered to have timely elections, not to say of empowering the basic democracies.
Even in the conduct of Assembly elections all sorts of irregularities were perpetrated. No proper delimitation of constituencies was held and in the absence of the jurisdiction of Election Commission of India. The Constituencies were carved out under communal and regional considerations. Jammu region was given just 30 seats and Ladakh two seats in the first 75 member House.
In the Constituent Assembly at the Centre framing Constitution of India, the four members from this State included three top leaders of NC viz Sheikh Mohd Abdullah, Mirza Afzal Beg and Moulana Masoodi from Kashmir and just one Moti Ram Baigra was picked up from Jammu. And none from Ladakh.
The Jammu region is having almost double the geographical area to that of the Valley and almost equal number of population.
The height of the political discrimination was inflicted by the Farooq led dispensation in 2002, when the State Constitution was amended to put an embargo that there would be no fresh delimitation of Assembly Constituencies till after 2026 Census which would be due in 2031. In 2002 Assembly elections the voters of Jammu were two lakh more than that of Kashmir.
Prof. Gupta said that all this coupled with continued discrimination in services and other spheres of life, is threatening the very unity of the State.
He impressed upon the Governor of the State to look into this malady and find some ways and means to rectify this wrong which is also the cause of many evils facing the State.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel