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| CM takes dig at NC-Congress for 'failing' to empower Panchayati Raj institutions in JK | | Pledges to hold civic elections in state | | Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Oct 12: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today took a dig at the previous National Conference-Congress coalition government for failing to empower the Panchayati Raj institutions. Mufti said that present government is committed to empower Sarpanchs and Panchs in the state.
"The previous government issued a notification for holding the Block Development Council (BDC) elections, but later on the notification was withdrawn for the reasons best known to the people at helm at that time. However, we are not going to do that and we are committed towards empowerment of Panchayati Raj institutions in the state," said Mufti while taking part in discussion on the functioning of Panchayati Raj institutions.
The Chief Minister said that Panchayati Raj institutions hold key to devolution of powers with the Panchayats solving all the basic problems of people under single line administration. He said once the elections are held to the subsequent tiers of the local governance then Panchayati Raj would assume significance in the real sense.
"Elections would be held for the civic bodies and for this purpose the electoral process are being updated these days. It is true that we too so far have not been able to empower the Panchayati Raj institutions, but let me make it clear that we are not sitting over this issue. It is important to empower Sarpanchs and Panchs so that they come up as real representatives of people at the grassroots level," said Mufti.
The Chief Minister said that besides Panchayats the present government also wants to fully empower the corporations of Srinagar and Jammu. He said that since Urban Local Bodies have an important role to play in the overall functioning of the system they too need to be given proper position in the overall functioning of the government.
"Over the years it has been observed that Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Jammu Municipal Corporation have not been given the due powers. We don't want these corporations to remain dependent. Both these corporations would be given financial empowerment so that they can carry out activities of different nature. They should come up as vibrant civic bodies like the Mumbai Municipal Corporation," said Mufti.
The Chief Minister made it clear that there would be no postponement of the Panchayat elections and these would be held on due time next year. He said the honorarium that was to be paid to the Sarpanchs and Panchs is meagre and that too could not be paid to them on time. He added that government would not erode the importance of Panchayati Raj institutions since Sarpanchs and Panchs are connected with the ground.
Asserting his government's resolve to transfer powers to the District Development Boards, Mufti quoted Mahatma Gandhi who had described villages and towns as the real pillars of strength of a government. He said that there is no scope for the real blame game in this regard and that government is fully aware of its responsibilities in empowering the Panchayati Raj institutions. |
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