Kishore Chandra Deo Expresses Condolence Over Killing of Panchayat Representatives in J&K and Urges State Government to Provide Adequate

Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Minister of Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs has expressed deep concern at the instance of killing of some elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and expressed his condolences. Minister of Panchayati Raj has also dwelt upon the endeavors made by Ministry of Panchayati Raj in training the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions of Jammu & Kashmir; the need for devolution of funds and functions upon the functionaries of PRIs and criticality of strengthening local governance at the grassroot level in the country.

The following is the text of the Minister’s Statement:

“I express my deep concern at the instance of killing of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu & Kashmir. I express my heartfelt condolence and my sympathies to the kith and kin of the bereaved.

Holding successfully the much awaited elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu & Kashmir have given rise to hopes that the democratic process in the strife torn State would be now on the rails.

I appeal to the State Government of Jammu & Kashmir to give adequate security to the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu & Kashmir.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj was effectively involved in imparting training to around 33847 elected representatives, which included 29719 Panchs and 4128 Sarpanchs. This mammoth exercise was undertaken with the assistance of National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad and other State Institutes of Rural Development (SIRD).

It was our fond hope that this would facilitate the requisite capacity building and training of the elected Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) functionaries of J&K. Democratic process does not end with merely holding of elections to the Panchayat. The grassroot of our democratic polity vests with the Gram Sabhas and the Panchayats. A commitment for a vibrant democracy is that the functionaries at the grassroot are able to air and reflect the views and aspirations of the people at large in the respective representative bodies and are also able to take up these issues with the higher authorities. It is with this objective that the far sighted visionary, Shri Rajiv Gandhiji decided to empower the local bodies as a result of which the Constitution 73rd Amendment Act was enacted in 1993 which incorporated 11th Schedule to the Constitution. This has given the requisite credence and constitutional mandate to the rural local governance popularly known as Panchayati Raj in our country. With such a proactive initiative, there were great hopes for success of local governance in this country. However, mere elections to local bodies come to a knot unless the effective devolution of three Fs i.e. funds, Functions and functionaries takes place.

It is unfortunate that in many states this devolution has not taken place. While many State Governments have been demanding for more allocation of funds from the Centre, the devolution of certain functions by the State Governments to the Panchayati Raj Institutions hasn’t taken place as desired. The State Governments of course do have a right to seek assistance from the Central Government. Central Government has been acceding to such requests/demands by State Governments for assistance wherever it was feasible after taking into account the prevailing situation. It is however unfortunate to note that many States are reluctant to devolve funds, functions or functionaries to the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions. This actually hampers the feel and free flow of democratic process.

I and my Ministry have taken up this issue with the State Government and Union Territories on quite a few occasions and hope that the State wherever devolution has not taken place, including the States of J&K and Jharkhand where elections were not held for a decade and over three decades respectively will immediately cooperate in this process and thereby give an opportunity to the people at grassroot to have a say in the process of development and governance”.

PKM