Militants' threat haunts civic poll process

By Our Correspondent

JAMMU, OCT. 9. The process of election to the Panchayat Raj bodies in the State, which started early this year after a gap of 23 years, is yet to be completed.

The elections were held despite the militants' threat to the candidates and election staff. Only yesterday, they beheaded three heads of the Panchayats in Udhampur district. They have so far killed seven heads of Panchayat to strike terror.

Out of 57 blocks in Jammu division, no election could be held in two blocks of Doda district which is a militancy- affected area. In Gool Bloc of Udhampur district, another militancy-affected area, a number of candidates declared elected unopposed, dissociated themselves later from the Panchayats.

It may be mentioned that 73rd amendment to the Indian Constitution, which governs the establishment of Panchayats in the rest of the country, is not applicable to the State due its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution. The State has its own Panchayat Raj Act.

An important difference between the two is that the State law has no provision for reservation for Women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which is provided in the 73rd amendment.

Instead, their representatives are to be nominated by the Government. Out of 1230 panchayats, only seven have elected women as their head. The Government proposes to raise the level of representation of women to 33 per cent and all of them would be nominated.

Talking to ``The Hindu,'' the senior Congress leader and former member of Parliament, Mr. Pandit Mangat Ram Sharma said it was a retrograde step to deny reservation for women unlike in the rest of the country. He added that the provision for their nomination was an attempt to politicisation and favouritism because the nominated members were likely to be favourites of the ruling party.

The Congress leader said that in the absence of substantial delegation of powers to the Panchayats, the election would be merely a cosmetic exercise. Mr. Sheikh Abdul Rehman, president of Bahujan Samaj Party and member of State Assembly, also demanded reservation for women and Scheduled Castes instead of nominating them..

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : Important portfolio for Keshubhai supporter
Next     : M.P. plans to emerge as top milk producing State