J&K sarpanchs meet Amit Shah; minister assures to lift restrictions in 3-4 weeks

Almost a month after the abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre made its first big outreach to the people of the state with Union Home Minister Amit Shah meeting sarpanchs from the state on Tuesday.

Interestingly, the meeting took place in North Block in the national capital. The journey of the sarpanchs from various districts of Jammu and Kashmir to North Block is not only symbolic of the government's keenness to get the pulse of the people and bring them closer to New Delhi, but also instil a sense of confidence in people through their elected representatives who laid out their demands to the Centre.

The sarpanchs stressed on the need to hold elections to the block development councils and facilitate the flow of central funds being provided to panchayat bodies for boosting developmental works at the grassroot levels. The delegation also talked about the hardships faced by people due to lack of connectivity amidst the security crackdown.

Shah is learnt to have assured them that if peace and normalcy remains in Jammu and Kashmir, the government will explore the possibility of lifting restrictions in three to four weeks. The terror threat and concern of anti-national elements trying to fish in troubled waters had prompted the government to shut down lines of communication and deploy security forces on the streets to prevent law and order situation.

Among the other confidence building measures initiated by the government is the decision to provide five government jobs per village, which is the target of the government in the coming days, besides providing security cover to sarpanchs who are the representatives of the government at the grassroot level at a time when the state of Jammu and Kashmir is being bifurcated to create twin union territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

The demand for security cover to elected representatives was met with a tough response from the home minister who assured them that they will be provided security cover as a short term measure. He said in the long run, the government is committed to create an atmosphere where they would not need a security cover.

The sarpanchs submitted a 12-point memorandum to the home minister, saying they are putting forth the demands of 45,000 panchayat members, elected during the panchayat elections held last year.

The panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir have demanded that each panchayat in the union territories of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh get Rs 1 crore on the lines of the constituency development fund and MPLAD funds under the 14th finance commission. They said there are several panchayat offices functioning from rented accommodations where owners are asking them to vacate, affecting the development works being run by the panchayats. The panchayats want to be empowered, given powers to hire more employees and provided with computers and digital media to keep pace with the Digital India Programme.

The panchayat members told Shah that the long spell of terrorism and separatism has created huge unemployment which needs immediate redressal in the form of community facility centres to generate employment opportunities.

They stressed the need to pay the wages under MNREGA scheme, and offer the monthly honoraium to elected panchs as it is necessary to enhance the financial status of the people who come from the grassroot level and do not enjoy any political background or support. The need to provide clean drinking water and facilities in middle level and primary schools was another issue that was highlighted.

The team of sarpanchs was led by Anil Kumar, president of the All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference, and the meeting was attended by senior officials of the home ministry.