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| Panchayati Raj a big failure in JK | | Omar calls it his achievement? | | ET Report
JAMMU, Jan 10: Omar Abdullah claims establishment of so called Panchayat Raj in the State a historic measure while as the said institution is one of the biggest failure in state owing to non-implementation of the 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution in the garb of preserving Article 370.
Omar claims that he wants to strengthen the democratic institutions from grass roots and empower people to ensure development but when it comes to holding of elections for Block Development Councils (BDC's) he cancels the same at the last moment. Omar today reaffirmed his so called endeavour for a vibrant and empowered Panchayat in the State while meeting a delegation of Sarpanches and Panches at Jammu .
Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu and Kashmir State suffer both from structural as well as operational side. The State Panchayati Raj Act 1989, despite the recent amendments in 2011 to provide for the State Election Commission remains flawed and does not serve the purpose of making the Panchayats the units of self-governance.
Unlike the 73rd constitutional amendment of Indian Constitution and the Model Panchayat Act, the Panchayats as per the State Act, are not democratically structured at all the three levels. The direct election of Panchayats, for instance, is applied only at the village level, neither the Block level Panchayat nor the District level Panchayat is comprised of the directly elected representatives of the people. It is only the Chairman of the Block Development Council who is elected but the process of election is not direct but indirect- the Electoral College comprised of the Panches and Sarpanches within that block. Similarly there is no provision for direct election in the District Planning and Development Board. It is only the Vice Chairperson of the Board who is elected, the Electoral College being comprised of the members of the Board itself.
What hampers the democratic structuring of Panchayats at the three levels is the presence of the Government officials. The Secretary Panchayat at all the three levels is a Government official, the Gram Sevak at the level of the Halqa Panchayat, the Block Development Officer at the Block Development Council Level and the Deputy Commissioner at the level of District Planning and Development board . When contacted Shafiq Mir a noted Panchayati leader of state said " Omar Abdullah is the only person in state who is responsible for failure of the Panchayati Raj institution in Jammu and Kashmir as he made Sarpanches and Panches scape goats for his political goals, those people who claim to be representatives of Sarpanches and Panches and meet him are actually the workers of his party and nothing more than that." |
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