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| NC divided over the issue of empowerment of Panchayats | | Congress unlikely to achieve the target | | Rustam
JAMMU, Jan 2: The Pradesh Congress chief Saif-ud-Din Soz has given to understand that the Congress has given a concrete shape to its report on the 73rd constitutional amendment in the Constitution of India and the party believes that its coalition partner, NC, will adopt a positive attitude towards it and amend the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act (JKPRA) of 1989 accordingly to empower the toothless Panchayati Raj institutions in the state. He has also hinted that he would table the report in the Coordination Committee of two parties "next week".
The Congress, according to sources, wants its alliance partner to not only strengthen and empower the institutions at grassroots level by suitably amending the JKPRA but also wants that the power to dissolve panchayats should be vested in the State Cabinet and that the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India be allowed to audit panchayats. The Congress, as per the same source, also wants a fixed tenure of five years for the elected panchs and sarpanchs so that the possibility of the concerned minister or even an officer declaring any panchayat halqa invalid is eliminated. Besides, the Congress, according to a media report, would want a sarpanch or a panch to head Block Development Council. In other words, the Congress reportedly wants that a sarpanch or a panch should be the chairman of the Block Development Council.
The Pradesh Congress chief and others in the Congress may say that they are confident that they will succeed in taking on board the NC, but the reports which emanated from Srinagar yesterday do not suggest so. Take, for example, what NC ideologue and NC Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Shafi Uri said yesterday while reacting to the Congress insistence on 73rd amendment. He reportedly said: "It (NC) won't allow incorporation of any new provisions in the State Panchayati Raj Act which, according to the party, is 'much comprehensive' than the existing Panchayat laws in any other state of India.
'We don't need any provisions of the 73rd amendment of the Indian Constitution as J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989 is more comprehensive than similar laws in any other State of India'…To strengthen the state's Panchayati Raj institutions, it is imperative to implement the J&K Panchayat Raj Act in letter and spirit. 'We don't need any new provisions' as suggested by the Congress".
On the other hand, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and another senior NC leader Ali Mohammad Sagar claimed the same day that the NC and the Congress have agreed to adopt some new provisions with a view to strengthening the JKPRA. The "coalition partners have agreed to incorporate some new provisions aimed at strengthening the Panchayati Raj Act further," he was quoted as saying.
"Elections for the Block Development Council (BDC) were postponed as Congress wanted to add more provisions to the State Panchayat Act. So, we agreed and are now waiting for the Congress report…We will scrutinize the Congress report and accordingly make our stand clear," he, according to media report, also said.
It is clear that the top-ranking NC leaders are divided over the issue. It is important to note that while Shafi Uri registered his emphatic opposition to the Congress' suggestions, Sagar adopted the middle path. He neither rejected nor endorsed the Congress's suggestions. He simply said that he would "scrutinize the Congress report and accordingly make our (NC) stand clear". Things would become clear when the Congress-NC Coordination Committee meets next week. However, it can be said that the Congress is unlikely to achieve the target. The reason is simple: The Congress is just incapable of asserting its position and authority. |
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