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| Cabinet comprising NC, Cong Ministers ignores Rahul, Soz | | 73rd Amendment | | Neha
Jammu, Sept 28: State Cabinet comprising NC and Congress Ministers, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday afternoon at Srinagar, practically snubbed AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi and JKPCC president and chairman of NC-Congress Coordination Committee Saif-ud-Din Soz by not adopting 73rd Constitutional amendment. Both Gandhi and Soz had only the other day taken on the Omar Abdullah-led Government and expressed themselves in favour of a regime as envisaged by the 73rd Constitutional amendment. (This amendment empowers panchayats to cater to the needs of the people at the grassroots level and places at their disposal required funds.) While Rahul had taken up the issue during the September 25 Congress Working Committee meeting and described as serious the prevailing situation in Kashmir, Soz had on the same day written a letter to the Chief Minister urging him to empower the panchayats by adopting the 73rd amendment or by bringing the State Panchayati Raj Act at par with the Indian Panchayati Raj Act. Both had left none in any doubt that they meant what they said.
Yesterday, Rahul even met with a delegation of Panches and Sarpanches at his official resident at New Delhi and assured them of his fullest possible support. He urged them not to resign and told them that he not only wanted the State Government to adopt the 73rd Constitutional amendment but also provide them security so that they could discharge the functions they were supposed to as people's representatives. This happened in New Delhi. In Srinagar, Soz met with the visiting Union President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to intervene so that the State Government (of which the Congress is a part) adopted the said amendment.
It appeared from what Gandhi and Soz said that the State Government would consider their suggestions and do the needful. But it did not happen. The State Cabinet met yesterday and approved the Jammu and Kashmir Skill Development Policy for the 12 Five Year Plan; put seal of approval on the introduction of bill in the forthcoming session of State Legislature to amend Provident Fund Act; discussed the implications of the recent decision of the Union Government restricting supply of subsidized Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to the consumers; approved regularization of Riyaz Ahmed Bandey as Director in Economics and Statistics (Gazetted) Service with effect from December 12, 2008 and promotion of three officers -- SS Sasan, Mohammad Rafiq Matoo and Mohammad Ismail Teli -- as Directors prospectively against the available vacancies; and discussed a few other issues.
The State Cabinet did not consider the suggestions of Gandhi and Soz. It was only kind enough to express "deep concern" over the recent killings of Panches and Sarpanches and direct Deputy Commissioners to "expedite the relief in favour of the families of the deceased and also process the cases for the appointment of the next of kin of the deceased on compassionate ground". In other words, Omar Abdullah and Congress Ministers held their ground firmly and proved by their action their bitter opposition to the 73rd amendment. Omar Abdullah had on Wednesday declared that he will not adopt the said amendment and made a startling revelation that two of the Congress Ministers, besides many MLAs, had opposed the demand seeking transfer of block level powers to the panchayats.
What is the moral of the story? The moral of the story is that the NC and the Congress Ministers are one as far as their opposition to the demand in the State for the empowerment of Panches and Sarpanches is concerned. Another moral of the story is that it is Omar Abdullah, and not Rahul Gandhi and Congress, who play the real shot and dictate terms. |
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