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| `Before empowerment, Panchs, Sarpanchs need security' | | |
Early Times Report
srinagar, Jan 31: Even as the panchayat members resign in large numbers, the Government is boasting of their empowerment which has not been translated into reality till date.
According to political circles, this is like showing them the starts and snatching the ground beneath. The ruling coalition started a discourse on the empowerment of Panchayats two years back but reached no where. In the process many elected representatives fell to the bullets but the Government while downplaying the seriousness of the issues always resorted to sloganeering.
Even on that front (empowerment of Panchs and Sarpanchs) the coalition partners are at loggerheads with Congress proposing incorporation of the provisions of 73rd amendment in the J&K Panchayat Raj Act and National Conference rejecting it on the pretext that it amounts to breach of the special status of the State within the union of India guaranteed under Article 370.
The debate goes on but both the partners ignore the ground realities which demand security for the panchayat members who risked their lives to take democracy to the grass root level.
The situation at the moment is grim and has taken an ugly turn as the Sarpanchs and Panchs are facing the danger of being eliminated by unidentified gunmen. More than five hundred of them have already resigned and the process continues.
Instead of arresting the resignation trend, the Government is talking of empowerment of Panchayat Raj institutions.
A number of Sarpanchs and Panchs told Early Times that the coalition Government was not bothered about their safety but just to score points on a non- issue. "At this stage the immediate need is to give security and provide safe environ so that they can function without fear" a Sarpanch from North Kashmir told ET. |
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