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| As Kashmir burns MLAs disappear, leave people in lurch | | Dump legislators; empower Sarpanchs, Panchs | |
Early Times Report
Srinagar, July 11: Legislators are doing a great disservice to the state by not allowing the government to empower Panchs and Sarpanchs in Jammu and Kashmir, experts said on Monday.
They said Panchs and Sarpanchs enjoy the mass following in the rural areas as they are one among the common people and don't enjoy any special privileges. "In rural areas maximum of the matters are decided by the Panchayats and people respect its verdict. It's unfortunate that in Jammu and Kashmir politicians leave no stone unturned to curtail the powers of Panchs and Sarpanchs and don't allow them to come forward and shoulder the responsibility. They fear if Panchs and Sarpanchs are empowered they (MLAs) would become irrelevant ," said a Kashmir watcher.
He said, "When Panchayat elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2011 hundreds of candidates without fearing for their lives contested these polls. People also voted for their favorite candidates by defying the boycott call given by the militants and the separatists."
Soon after the polls ended a few Sarpanchs and Panchs were killed by militants as the government never bothered to provide them with the adequate security cover. Despite facing all the odds the elected Sarpanchs and Panchs didn't give up but they were ignored by one and all.
"It's high time for the government to think about empowering Panchs and Sarpanchs in Jammu and Kashmir as they can act as a bridge between the government and the common masses," he said.
The Kashmir watcher said, "Kashmir has been burning for the past three days, none of the legislators are visible on the ground as they fear backlash. Had the government empowered Panchs and Sarpanchs they could have been among the people and helped in cooling down the tempers."
A defence analyst said, "The people who are saying that present protests in Kashmir are a spontaneous reaction against the killing of the Hizbul-Mujahideen poster boy Burhan are wrong. People have got a chance to give a vent to their ire against the failure of the successive regimes to fulfill their promises. After getting elected MLAs disappear from the scene and remain inaccessible this leaves people in lurch as they have no one whom they can approach to get their day to day issues resolved."
It's in place to mention here that in the recently concluded assembly session the PDP-BJP government passed an amendment to Panchayati Raj Act, allowing indirect election of Sarpanchs by Panchs instead of a direct election.
The government said such a system was in place till 1996 and the system never failed. "The election of Sarpanchs by electorate has created a problem in the field as it has been found that in larger number of cases there is a rift between Panchs and Sarpanchs. The Sarpanchs get elected directly and there is lack of confidence from the Panchs on him and vice-versa which hampers the process of implementation of various schemes on the ground level and accordingly it has been felt to amend the provision of the Act."
Many people believe that this step would further lead to the alienation of masses as the Sarpanchs and Panchs would now act as the representatives of the MLAs and MLCs rather than the representatives of people.
An expert said, "If state and central governments are really serious about restoring peace and calm in the Valley they should empower the institutions at the grass-root levels rather than depending upon the security forces to douse the fire." |
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