Don’t allow law & order to be disturbed
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 17: Governor NN Vohra today came out with another reminder to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for holding elections to Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir, which have been pending for eight and two years respectively with successive Governments virtually taking no initiative to hold polls to the civic bodies.
The Governor issued the reminder to Mehbooba Mufti when she met Vohra at the Raj Bhawan here this afternoon to brief him on her latest discussions in New Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
An official handout issued by the Raj Bhawan said the Governor discussed with Mehbooba Mufti the issues related to long pending elections to Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats, which haven’t been held in the State on due time, leading to blockade of Central grants running into crores of rupees.
This was the third reminder by Vohra to the Chief Minister in almost as many months for holding elections to Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats. Mehbooba, after one such meeting with Vohra in December last year, had announced that Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir would start from February 15. However, the elections were deferred without any formal announcement by any Government functionary including the Chief Minister or the Panchayati Raj Minister after an All Party Meeting (APM) held here.
According to sources, the State Government had decided against holding the Panchayat elections in February-March to facilitate smooth tourist season in the Kashmir valley as it anticipated that violence during the polls could mar the tourist season.
The Government also reiterated to the Chief Minister the need for strict accountability being enforced in the functioning of entire administrative apparatus.
Earlier also, the Governor had pointed out to the Chief Minister, the similar need for accountability and transparency in the administration, and weeding out the deadwood.
The Raj Bhavan handout said the Governor also took up the case of rape-cum-murder of eight year old minor Bakerwal girl of Rassana in Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua district and stressed the importance of ensuring that prosecution in the cases proceeded on day-to-day basis.
Vohra said the “lumpen elements” shouldn’t be allowed to disturb law and order under any circumstances.
The Panchayat elections were last held in the State in April-May 2011 during National Conference-Congress coalition Government headed by Omar Abdullah after a gap of nearly four decades. However, the elected Panchayats had completed their five-year term in July 2016 and since then the elected Panchayats had been rendered defunct as the elections were not held to them.
The Central grants running into several hundreds of crores have been blocked due to delay in holding of Panchayat elections as the Union Government gave certain grants only to the elected Panchayats directly.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during his four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir from September 9-12 had also called for holding Panchayat and Municipal elections in the State.
Similarly, the Urban Local Bodies elections were last held in January 2005 during the tenure of PDP-Congress coalition Government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and the elected bodies had completed their term in March 2010. Even after eight years, there has been no talk by the Government on holding elections to the Urban Local Bodies.
Like Panchayats, the Centre has also blocked grants running into crores in the absence of elected Municipalities.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
