Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, July 17: The State Government machinery was in a soup as a proposed review meeting of District Development Board Udhampur, was forced to be officially turned into an ordinary meeting for discussing the development related issues following a strong protest by the member MLAs against the exercise.
Two MLAs, Pawan Gupta of Udhampur and Dina Nath Bhagat of Chenani, boycotted the event while Minister of State and MLA Reasi, Ajay Nanda as well as MLA Ramnagar R S Pathania were not allowed to speak in the review meeting, which was held today at Udhampur under the chairmanship of Ch Lal Singh, Minister for Forest and Ecology & Environment.
Even as it was officially conveyed that a review meeting of the District Development Board would be held on Sunday, the same was reduced to an ordinary review meeting as MLAs Pawan Gupta and Dina Nath Bhagat refused to attend the same questioning logic of a review when not even a penny was spent on the DDB schemes while minutes of the first meeting were also not finalized so far.
Talking to the Excelsior, both the MLAs alleged that the review meeting was arranged in haste without adopting proper procedure and without taking them as well as the concerned MP into confidence. They are learnt to have also telephonically conveyed their reservation to the Chief Secretary as well as Commissioner/Secretary Planning and Development Department.
“What was the purpose of fixing such an important meeting in haste only on Sunday when the public representatives are pre-occupied with the people and what was being reviewed by the Chairman when no developmental work has been initiated in the district because of no release of funds to the executing agency?” asked Pawan Gupta, who also informed that a number of officers also stayed away from the said meeting.
The member MLAs were purportedly invited to attend the said meeting through the office of District Development Commissioner, Udhampur, yesterday evening only without circulating minutes of the previous meeting, which are still awaiting nod of the DDB Chairman.
Ajay Nanda, MoS for Finance and Planning and MLA Reasi, and R S Pathania, MLA Ramnagar, who attended the meeting, were not allowed to speak on the occasion and this was objected by the duo. They sought to know the objective of such review meeting where the MLAs were not allowed to speak about the issues related to developmental works in their respective area, sources said.
Following this, sources said, Ch Lal Singh sought to convince the member MLAs that the said occasion was not a review meeting of the District Development Board but only a general meeting for discussing the development related issues.
Later, in the evening, official handout issued by State Information Department also said that the Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Choudhary Lal Singh on Sunday chaired a meeting of line departments and reviewed physical and financial achievements under various sectors.
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