| One month after APM, Govt undecided on Panchayat polls | | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 28: Almost a month after the All Party Meeting on the issue, the JK government is still undecided over the holding of Panchayat polls in the state.
On February 4, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti chaired an all-party meeting to hear the views of all parties after which the government said that cabinet will take the final call.
Although, several cabinet meetings were held since then, but no decision has been taken on this important issue. "The Panchayat elections issue did not rise in the cabinet meetings," an official said. "There is still confusion whether the Panchayat polls will be held or not," the official said.
State Public Works Minister and senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar had said that Chief Minister will take a final decision on conducting the Panchayat elections when the Cabinet meets next time.
"In 2011, the panchayat polls were possible because the Peoples Democratic Party as an opposition party supported the government's initiative. When to conduct the polls will be discussed in the Cabinet. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti will take a call on it," he had said.
The official said that there was a mounting pressure on the BJP leadership that polls should be across the state. "Deferring polls indicate that government has succumbed to separatists and militants threats," the BJP leader said.
The state is losing huge Central funding due to non-holding of Panchayat polls. "J&K will lose over Rs 4000 crore between 2015-2020, if Panchayat polls do not take place," sources said.
The Centre wrote a letter last year to JK Government that state would lose Rs 2,000 crore in the current fiscal due to non-holding of Panchayat polls, and poor utilisation of funds, sources said.
The Panchayats completed their term in July 2016. Elections to Panchayats were last held in April-May 2011 during Omar Abdullah led National Conference-Congress regime after a gap of 37 years. The government postponed these polls for several times in the last few years. |
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