Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Apr, 19
A delegation comprising DDC members, Rajouri led by Ch. Naseem Liaqat, Chairman DDC, Rajouri met the Lt Governor, UT of Jammu and Kashmir at Raj Bhawan, Jammu.
The delegation submitted a memorandum of demands before the Lt Governor wherein it was requested that all the powers of District Development Commissioners vested in the District Magistrates vis-à-vis rural development must be vested in the Councils in order to enable the Councils to effectively discharge their functions and duties. It was also emphasized before the Lt Governor to make the officers of the district answerable before the Councils so as to ensure that the Councils are not teeth less in discharge of their duties.
The delegation apprised the Lt Governor that this is very important in order to avoid conflict between the office of District Magistrates and the Councils, which in this day is creating a great lot of confusion at the working level.
The delegation requested the Lt Governor that the Councils must be empowered in all respects as mandated under the law as soon as possible so that expectations of the people are met without any further delay as the Chairpersons, Vice-Chairpersons and all the members are only sitting idle without anything concrete to do.
The delegation thanked the Lt Governor on revising the warrant of precedence which has upgraded the status of Chairpersons and the Vice-Chairpersons yet the status of members of DDC has not been changed at all and they still figure at the last limb of the schedule appended to the warrant of precedence.
The delegation requested the Lt Governor that the status of members of DDC may also be upgraded, which is also very important for the smooth functioning of the Council as the DDC members are part of third tier and have won through direct voting from the public.
The Lt Governor was also apprised that there is a long pending issue of construction of mini secretariat in district Rajouri, which needs to be looked into at an earliest and the indulgence of the office of Lt Governor into the matter was solicited therefore. The construction of the secretariat building had started at Rajouri, but due to the reasons not known, the same stands stalled whereas it is seen that in other districts the construction has been completed and the buildings have also been made functional.
The delegation also apprised the Lt Governor about the peculiar problems of each of their constituencies and sought his intervention for the redressal of the same.
The Lt Governor assured the delegation that all the genuine demands of the delegation will be minutely looked into and redressed at an earliest. He assured that very soon government departments will be transferred to the Councils and funds will also be released.
