Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Nov 24: Three day national seminar on Devolution of Powers in J&K organized by Dean Research Studies and Department of Sociology, University of Jammu in collaboration with Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation concluded. During the seminar, various delegates from different Universities of India and from University of Jammu deliberated on various themes related to Devolution of Power in J&K. The second day of the seminar had three very vibrant sessions. The first session was on the sub theme of Devolution of Power-concept, issues and Indian experiments, which was chaired by Prof Balveer Arora. Prof Ashutosh Kumar from Panjab University Chandigarh, Dr Rekha Saxena from Delhi University, Dr Gul Mohd Wani from University of Kashmir, Prof Sandhya Goswami from Guwahati University and Dr Nagendra Rao and Prof Abha Chauhan from University of Jammu presented their views. The second session was on the sub theme ‘Demand for Devolution of Powers in J&K’ which was chaired by MY Tarigami, MLA and there were three speakers in this session including Prof Rekha Chowdhary from University of Jammu, Zafar Chowdhary and Prof M Taj-ud-din also from University of Jammu. The third session was on Ladakh region wherein the Chairpersons of Autonomous Hill councils of Leh and Kargil namely Rigzin Spalbar, Ahmed Ali Khan Kacho and Sonam Chosjar were the speakers. The session was chaired by Prof Noor A Baba of University of Kashmir and Anuradha Bhasin was the discussant. Rigzin Spalbar spoke about devolution of power in Ladakh and shared his experience about LAHDC, whereas, Ahmed Ali Khan Kacho highlighted the role of LAHDC in the development of people in Ladakh and inclusion of people in decision-making due to Hill Councils. The third and final day had two important sessions on Panchayati Raj. The sessions were chaired by Dr George Mathew and Prof Rajni Dhingra. The discussant for the session was Dr Sandeep Singh. There were seven speakers who spoke on different issues and dimensions related to Panchayati Raj including Prof NA Baba from University of Kashmir, Aijaz Ashraf Wani from University of Kashmir, Dr Pampa Mukherjee from Panjab University, Chandigarh, Prof Abha Chauhan from University of Jammu, Dr Vishav Raksha from University of Jammu, Dr Suresh Babu from University of Jammu and Pankaj Sharma from University of Jammu. There was an interactive session with Sarpanchs namely Shafiq Mir and Anil Sharma, which was moderated by Ashutosh Sharma. The session discussed a number of issues focusing on the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Shafiq Mir elaborated on the functioning of the Panchayats and highlighted the need for the execution of work and total empowerment in complete terms, whereas, Anil Sharma discussed about the various problems faced by Panchayats including financial issues.
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