Shadow Correpondent
Jammu, May 13:
All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) on Monday demanded for early conduct of elections for constitution of Block Development Council (BDC) elections to speed up development activities in the state.
A delegation of AJKPC, lead by its state president Anil Sharma, comprising Sarpanches and Panches called on the Advisor to Governor K K Sharma here and apprised him of the various problems being faced by elected Panchayat members in the state due to non-execution of development works for the want of funds.
During the meeting, the Panchayat members expressed their resentment against the continuous delay to the constitution of BDCs in Jammu and Kashmir despite the fact that the State Administrative Council (SAC)—headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik—approved the holding of elections for constitution of BDCs on March 3 this year. “Two months have passed since the SAC approved the holding of elections for constitution of BDCs but little headway has been made in this direction. Even after five months since Panchayat elections, the development activities in rural areas have come to a standstill due to non-availability of funds. Panchayats are virtually defunct and rural populace is crying for development,” AJKPC leader told the Advisor.
The elections to BDCs form the second-tier to the state Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and it was for the first time in J&K history that the BDCs polls were approved by the government. The section 27 of the J&K Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 1989, provides for constitution of a BDC for every block. Every council will be a body headed by a chairperson and other members. He also conveyed his deep anguish over the non-coordination showed by various government departments to the elected Panchayats as the heads of these departments were provided no support to elected Sarpanches and Panches. “All the deputy commissioners must be directed to visit the blocks under their jurisdictions to ensure a better coordination between government departments and elected Panchayat members. It will set a good precedence besides speed up the development activities in the state,” Sharma said.
The Advisor gave patient hearing to all issues raised by the AJKPC delegation and assured for early redressal.
Prominent elected members who were part of delegation comprised Jatinder Singh, Babishan Singh, Kailash, Darshna Devi, Veena Devi, Surjeet Singh, Om Parkash, Milkhi Ram, Sushil Kumar and Darshan Singh.
