Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 23: Members of all Jammu and Kashmir Kashmir Panchayat Conference including Sarpanchs and Panchs held protest demonstration outside Press Club of Jammu here today and strongly criticized the NC-Congress Coalition Government for not implementing 73rd Amendment and according empowerment to Panchayats.
A large number of members of the Panchyat Conference under the leadership of Sarpanch Shafiq Mir, chairman of the Conference and Sarpanch Anil Sharma, general secretary assembled outside the Press Club here today and held strong protest demonstration against the State Government. They raised slogans in support of their demand of implementation of 73rd Amendment in the Act and ensuring empowerment to the Panchayats. They alleged that this Government has denied powers to over 33,000 Panchayat members in the State.
They alleged that giving two months more time to the National Conference by Congress party for implementation of 73rd Amendment despite tall claims of PCC president Prof Saifuddin Soz, indicates that both NC and Congress were playing fixed match and befooling the Sarpanchs and Panchs of the State. Both the parties were just buying time have no clear intensions to empower Panchayats.
They pointed out that all those leaders who have played a cruel joke with the Sarpanchs and Panchs will have to pay the price and they will see the fate in coming elections. Describing Panchayati Raj system as totally failure here, these leaders said even for the last six months labourers engaged under MNREGA have not been paid their dues which is clear violation of Panchayati Raj Act.
Provincial president of AJKPC for Jammu, Kulbhushan Khajuria announced that on the opening day of Secretariat in the winter capital here, the Panchs and Sarpanchs from the region would conduct ‘Gherao’ of the Civil Secretariat. He declared that Panchayat members have now geared up for the final and decisive battle without caring for any political affiliation for their common cause. Several other Sarpanchs including Madan Lal Sharma, Vimla Devi, Ghulam Hassan, Bashir Ahmed Malik, B D Bhagat, Jugal Mahajan and Fayaz Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.
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