Members defer agitation, resignation plan
Raina speaks to Sinha, conveys his message to chairpersons
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 10: Following threat of en masse resignations by all District Development Council (DDC) chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members on the issue of Warrant of Precedence, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has called their representatives for discussions over the issue on May 12 after his return from the Union capital to resolve the deadlock.
After getting the invite from the Lieutenant Governor, the DDC representatives deferred their agitation as well as plan to resign en masse.
Sources told the Excelsior that BJP president Ravinder Raina, who had yesterday written letter to Sinha demanding that issues raised by the DDC chairpersons, deputies and members be addressed, today spoke to the Lieutenant Governor on telephone, who is camping in New Delhi and briefed him on threat by all DDC members to resign en masses if their Warrant of Precedence is not reviewed immediately.
The Lieutenant Governor, who was aware of all development, reportedly told Raina that he will return to Jammu from New Delhi on March 12 and hold discussions with the representatives of the District Development Councils the same day to address their issues.
Immediately thereafter, Raina spoke to some of the DDC chairpersons and members and briefed them about Manoj Sinha’s offer to hold talks with them on March 12 soon after his return from New Delhi.
“We have received a message from the Lt Governor, who is presently out of the station, and is coming back on March 12 for a meeting to address our genuine demands,” DDC chairperson and senior BJP leader Bharat Bushan told reporters at Exhibition Ground here.
Bushan was flanked by other DDC members affiliated with different parties including the Congress, National Conference, PDP, CPI (M) and independents including Taranjit Singh Tony, who had assembled at the place to resume the protest this morning.
Bushan said they are calling off the protest on the assurance of LG Sinha that “injustice will be undone”.
Blaming bureaucrats for the protocol and power related fiasco, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and even the Lt Governor had in the past talked about strengthening of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the Union Territory and ensured a three-tier system for the betterment of the people.
“We have formed a committee, composed mostly of DDC chairpersons from across the Union Territory, and they will hold the meeting with the Lt Governor. We are hopeful of a peaceful resolution of the issue,” he said.
However, he alleged that the administration cancelled the accommodation of the DDC members who have come from different districts forcing them on the roads following the protest.
“We condemn this action of the administration…Protest is our democratic right,” he said, adding they will decide the next course of action after meeting the Lt Governor.
Earlier, the protesting DDC members shouted slogans during the sit-in protest against the administration to press for immediate rescinding of the recent orders prescribing protocol.
“We are on the roads for our people who voted for us…How can we serve our people if we are not given adequate powers and facilities. We will not hesitate to resign en masse if our demands are not met,” DDC member Taranjit Singh said addressing the protesters
“The DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members agreed to the invite extended by the Lieutenant Governor through Ravinder Sharma,” Tony said.
He added that the DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members discussed the proposal and decided to suspend agitation pending talks with the Lieutenant Governor.
The DDC delegation, according to sources, will project their demands before Manoj Sinha that the DDC chairpersons should be extended the rank of Cabinet Minister, the vice chairpersons should be given the status of Minister of State and the members be brought at par with MLAs.
The DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members, who were about to submit their resignations en masse to the Government, deferred their plan after receiving invitation from Sinha.
A selected delegation of DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members represented different political parties and Independents will be meeting Sinha on Friday at the Raj Bhawan to project their demands.
According to sources, Raina told the Lieutenant Governor that there has been world-wide response about successful conduct of first-ever DDC elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir leading to establishment of third-tier of Panchayati Raj System in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said a wrong message will go if the DDC members go ahead with their plan to resign en masse on the issue of status and powers.
Earlier in the day, the DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members met at Press Club Jammu and demanded rescinding of the Warrant of Precedence issued by the Hospitality and Protocol Department and sought that it should be released afresh by the General Administration Department (GAD) and their status be raised as per the demands listed by them.
Sources said in the existing protocol certain legal problems will also crop up as the DDC chairperson will not be able to call MLAs to the meeting as they have been kept above the protocol to him.
“If the MLAs attend the meeting, they will have to preside over it and not the DDC chairperson,” they added.
It may be mentioned here that soon after the Warrant of Precedence was issued on Monday, the DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members boycotted two days programme organized for them by the Rural Development Department at Jammu Convention Centre and held protest demanding revision of Warrant of Precedence.
The Lieutenant Governor had cancelled his Address to the DDC representatives.
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