Jammu, October 17 (Scoop News)- Shafiq Mir, Convener of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference today said that by announcing indefinite postponement of the BDC elections in J&K ,the state government has deceived the Panchayat members in the name of so called empowerment of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state.
Shafiq Mir along with the members of the Panchayat Conference and coordination committee jointly briefed the media about their position regarding the postponement of the Block Development Council Election in the State.
Mir informed that prior to announcement of postponement of the BDC elections a senior member of the State Cabinet and Congress Core Committee member approached to JK Panchayat Conference with the assurance that they wanted to get BDC polls deferred on a time bound for implementation of 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution regarding Panchayati Raj in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.For this the senior member of the Congress Core group had sought the support from the Panchayat representatives which was extended to him provided that elections shall be postponed on time bound manner and 73rd amendment is implemented in letter and spirit. Convener said this was assured by the said cabinet minister who had contacted the JKPC on telephone on 12/Oct/2012 that the BDC polls would be postponed on time bound with the maximum period of 30 days during which the 73rd amendment would be implemented in totality.
Shafiq Mir said, “On this assurance the JKPC had extended full support to the state government particularly Congress Core group but unfortunately after the postponement of BDC elections state government as well as Congress Core Group is silent about the time frame for fresh elections and implementation of 73rd amendment in totality which indicates that state Congress has deceived us in the name of 73rd amendment through which they paved way for cancellation of BDC elections”. Mir expressed his apprehension that the BDC polls have been cancelled for indefinite period and there are chances that the State government would conduct any such exercise in its present tenures. However Panchayat leaders unanimously appreciate the role and efforts of Congress National General Secretary Rahul Gandhi regarding the empowerment of Panchayats in the state. The Panchayat leaders said that J and K Pradesh Congress Committee came into motion only after the intervention of Rahul Gandhi
Giving one month deadline to the state government, Anil Sharma, the general Secretary of the organization said that if fresh election dates for BDC polls are not announced with full implementation of 73rd amendment within one month period, the organization will launch a state wide agitation against the present coalition government and fight would be taken to
On new amendments in the act, Sharma said that amendments must be made carefully so that no loophole is left for further fight particularly on the BDC elections and only the elected Panches and sarpanches be allowed to contest the BDC polls so that no outside interference is not made in the second tier of Panchayats.
On security issue, the general secretary also expressed his displeasure and anguish on state government over it’s delaying attitude to provide security to the elected village representatives particularly the leaders of the Panchayat Conference who are threatened internally as well as externally. He warned the state government that if any Panch or sarpanch gets any harm in future, the state government will be responsible.
On reservation issue for SC and ST women, an another member of the Panchayat Conference Mohammad Aslam Kohli said that the though reservation is a welcome step but without empowerment of the Institution, the reservation seems an eyewash and a futile exercise just to gain time.
Kohli also expressed his anguish over the attitude of the government for not providing adequate ex gratia relief to next kin of the Martyred Sarpanches. Those other who spoke on the occasion included Sarpanch Bimla Devi, Sarpanch Bindu Choudhary, Mohammad Amin Khwaja, Mohammad Alam , Madan Lal Sharma and others.
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