Srinagar: CPI (M) senior leader and former Kulgam legislator, Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami has written to the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha regarding the concerns of newly elected District Development Council (DDC) members, their chairpersons and vice Chairpersons including Panchayat and Block Development Council members about protocol and honorarium.
Although, warrant of Precedence in their favour has been considered, other issues remain unsettled sofar, Tarigami said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“It has been almost a month since newly elected members of District Development Councils (DDCs), including their chairpersons and vice- chairpersons, expressed their dis-satisfaction while in Jammu regarding protocol and honorarium announced by the administration. It was only after your personal intervention and assurance for redressal of their genuine grievances that they called off their protest,” reads the letter.
“Not only the DDC members, but all the representatives, elected from the grassroots, including panchayat and block development council members, must be empowered fully to realize the expectations of a strong Panchayti Raj system in this region. At the moment, the powers given to them are inadequate to effectively function as per their mandate. The procedural delays in formulating rules of the DDCs have kept these representatives in a state of uncertainty regarding their role and responsibility. Besides recently elected panchayats are, surprisingly, yet to be constituted,” it added.
“As the working season in the region, especially in Kashmir Valley and hilly areas, is limited due to the weather conditions, it is imperative that a decision to empower the Panchayati Raj institutions is taken at the earliest, so that proper functioning of these institutions is ensured and day-to-day issues of common people are addressed,” it said.
“I hope you will direct the concerned to address these issues without any further delay,” the letter added
