Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 5 : Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said today that Jammu & Kashmir got grassroot “autonomy” after 72 years, even though for over half a century after independence, the erstwhile State was ruled by political parties whose main agenda and public stance was for “autonomy”.
During over one hour interactive meeting with elected Sarpanches and Chairmen of Block Development Councils (BDCs) from far-flung areas of Kashmir valley including the peripheral areas of Karnah, Kupwara and Baramulla, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is for the future historians and researchers to decipher and tell the world, what was meant by the so called “autonomy” propagated by the former rulers who vehemently avoided holding Panchayat and local body elections, and when eventually the Panchayat elections did take place at the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, these political parties decided to boycott.
He hoped that future scholars would be able to evaluate the sincerity and commitment of these rulers towards the concept autonomy in a democracy.
The Sarpanches, Panches and Block Chairman, who met Dr Jitendra Singh, hailed the Modi Government for holding Panchayat elections and soon after also the election to the Block Development Councils. They demanded that the District Development Council elections should also be held soon so that the process of three-tier democracy gets fully accomplished.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, while on the one hand, the Modi Government lost no time in holding elections to the local bodies, on the other hand the implementation of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments have ensured that Central grants directly reach the elected representatives. He said, with the passage of time, Jammu & Kashmir would experience true democracy which would have emerged from the bottom and not imposed from the top.
The Sarpanches and Block Chairman also enlisted their demands before the Minister, which mainly included to expedite the work on the construction of Bunkers along LoC and giving impetus to the road and tunnel projects.
During the meeting itself, Dr Jitendra Singh spoke on telephone with Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan and fixed up a meeting of elected representatives with him to sort out the local issues. He said, he had been interacting with Sarpanches from different parts of Jammu & Kashmir from time to time and assured that in future also they should keep in touch and convey their inputs from time to time.
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