Jammu : Criticising the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision to hold panchayat elections in the state on a non-party basis, the JKNPP on Tuesday demanded that the January 2011 elections should be held on a party basis as has been done in other states of the country. "The state government's decision to hold elections soon to the grass root panchayat institutions on a non-party basis will deprive the people, particularly in rural areas, of their basic fundamental rights to share the delegation of power," Jammu and Kashmir National Panther's Party Chairman Bhim Singh told reporters here.
Lashing out at the government for its failure to restore democratic institutions in the state, Singh sought amendments to the Panchayati Raj Act so as to make panchayats effective tools of the decentralisation of power. "If political parties will not contest in these elections, such institutions will not become really democratic in nature. It would deny our people participation in the political process, especially in the trouble-torn Kashmir Valley," Singh said. Calling for suitable amendments so that the practice of nominating candidates to the panchayats is done away with, the JKNPP Chief said, "By this exercise only workers of the ruling party will be in these panchayats."
He said nomination to the post of Chairman of panchayats runs counter to the principle of democratic decentralisation and is repugnant to the spirit of 73rd and 74th amendment of the Constitution. Condemning the government for fixing a duration of five years for panchayats as against six years for Legislative Assembly, he sought identical tenure for Assembly and panchayats for smooth functioning of all the institutions.
(Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com, 8 Dec. 2010)
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