‘Jammu not getting even a single penny less now’
Development can’t take place with free services
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 14: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today said as soon as the Parliament clears reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and rationalization of Wards is done, elections will be held to the Urban Local Bodies.
“Parliament has to approve reservation for the OBCs. The Government of India is serious. They want the process to be expedited. Whenever this Constitutional obligation is fulfilled, the elections will be held,” Sinha said while addressing a function to felicitate Corporators of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) whose five-year tenure ended today.
He said an important question is being asked that when the elections (to Urban Local Bodies) will be held.
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“The elections will definitely take place. When Jammu and Kashmir Re-organization Act was implemented on October 31, 2019, a Constitutional provision was made for reservation to OBCs which earlier was not applicable here. Their (the OBCs) representatives approached the authorities for fulfilling the Constitutional requirement.
“Further, discrepancies were also noticed in voters of Wards. Some Wards had few voters while others had more. This had been done as per convenience of some. Rationalization of Wards will also be done,” the Lieutenant Governor announced.
He announced that elections will be held whenever these formalities are completed.
Excelsior had exclusively reported that the Government proposed to give reservation to OBCs in Municipalities as well as Panchayats and hold delimitation of Wards to ensure almost equal number of electorates for which the elections have been delayed for some time.
Asserting that implementation of three-tier Panchayati Raj System took time in Jammu and Kashmir, Sinha said it is now better functioning in the UT than any other State with more Funds, Functions and Functionaries given to the Local Bodies.
Without referring to any specific tax, the Lieutenant Governor cautioned the JMC representatives that no country, State or autonomous body can govern effectively by providing just free services.
“For development and good governances, some hard decisions had to be taken and should be taken. Few people will oppose this but ultimately the decisions will benefit the common man. Development can only be done when there is capital expenditure. If JMC or any other department has to pay salary and GPF only, then how will they progress,” ? Sinha asked.
His remarks assumed significance as recently the administration had kept in abeyance the imposition of Property Tax by the Municipal Corporations following protests by some Opposition parties and others.
Asserting that there was need to come out of the mindset of discrimination by the people of Jammu now, the Lieutenant Governor said he can say this with responsibility that in the budget of all the Departments, Jammu is not getting even a single penny less (than Kashmir division).
“This discrimination has ended,” he said.
However, he added, few people feel that the gap of many years can be overcome in three years which is not possible.
An official handout said : Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today felicitated the Councillors of Jammu Municipal Corporation, whose tenure ends today.
The Lt Governor commended all the Councillors for selflessly serving people, fighting COVID pandemic and ensuring Municipal services in respective areas.
The Lt Governor shared the efforts of the Government, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, to empower the grassroots democratic setup in Jammu Kashmir.
He said the Municipal Corporation is a symbol of the aspirations of the citizens in the 21st century.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Urban Local Bodies of J&K were provided with greater financial resources for strong and accountable self-Government and to ensure holistic ecosystem for last-mile access to services,” the Lt Governor added.
He called upon the common public and elected representatives to work in synergy and focus on resource generation.
Urban governance inculcates the spirit of cooperation among the citizens with the ultimate aim of bringing transformation in urban development paradigm to fulfill the aspirations of the people. Efforts have been made to improve urban planning, strengthen green infrastructure and enhance the ease of living, he added.
Rajinder Sharma, Mayor JMC; Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Anand Jain, IGP Jammu; Rahul Yadav, Commissioner JMC; Baldev Singh Billawaria, Deputy Mayor, Councilors, former Mayors and Chairpersons of various committees of Jammu Municipal Corporation were present.
Addressing the function, Mayor Rajinder Sharma said while PM Narendra Modi had stressed on empowering local bodies so that democracy may percolate to the grassroots level and stressed for early elections to the local bodies, none had an idea what such an empowerment could do but same vision of the PM was put to practical form in J&K by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha with the help of administration.
He said many works have been done in last five years of the tenure which have improved and increased facilities in Jammu.
He said earlier Rs 10-15 lakh was spent on a Ward for developmental works but today each Ward spends Rs.1-1.5 crore on such works.
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