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| Empowering Panchayats: Omar mulls middle path | | | early times report
Jammu, Nov 6 : The National Conference leadership has decided to adopt a middle path in its bid to empower the Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir.
Party sources said that the leadership has opted for the Budha's "golden mean" so as to keep the Congress, with which it shares power, in good humour and reject any demand for complete incorporation of the central Act, especially the 73rd amendment in the state's Panchayati Raj Act.
During the last three months the state unit of the Congress has mounted pressure on Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah, for securing extension of the central Act aimed at empowering Panchayats which he has succeeded in warding off on the plea that each and every central Act could not be directly extended to the state.Under the state constitution any central law could be extended to the state only through approval of the state legislature.
Since 1953 several hundred central laws had been applied to the state after approval by the state legislature and this was being construed as dilution of state's autonomy and Article 370. Political pundits including critics of National Conference have been blaming the NC for it.Hence Omar was not prepared to include central law on empowerment of Panchayats in the state's Panchayati Raj Act.
Instead the NC leadership will incorporate those provisions of the central Act in the state's Panchayati Raj Act which were suitable to the political,social and ethnic environment and structure of Jammu and Kashmir. Latest reports said that the state unit of the Congress will wait and watch and react only after identifying which provisions of the 73rd amendment had been included in the state Panchayati Raj Act.
According to these reports Omar has succeeded in killing two birds with one stone.He has conceded part of the Congress demand on empowering panchayats and rejected the stance of those who were trying to erode state's autonomy. |
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