Themselves Cherished ‘Autonomy’ for
Decades, Now Opposing it for Panchayats
!
RAMAN
SHARMA,
Earlytime Times, 14/Nov/2013
National
Conference, the oldest political party of Jammu and Kashmir which has history
of advocating autonomy for the state citing ‘Autonomy’ as the only
political ingredient which could not only console the voices of dissent
(separatists) but arguing that it is
only ‘Autonomy’ which do not affect the
merger or accession of the Jammu and
Kashmir with India. For decades their leaders are asking for more greater autonomy
to the state which already have its own constitution and flag. Anyhow that is a
separate debate that whether the proposal and demand of the National Conference
for autonomy is acceptable to
opposition parties or not but it is very strange and must say very
hypocritical on the part of National Conference when its leader openly opposing
implementation of provisions of 73rd amendments of Indian
Constitution here in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the 73rd
amendment of Indian constitution just gives
the Panchayats a constitutional status and calls for more powers and
autonomy to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
‘Sardari Awaam ka Haq Hai ’ means
Leadership and devolution of power is
the right of the citizen, was the slogan raised by none other than the
Sheri-i-Kashmir Shiekh Mohammad Abdullah, founder of National Conference who’s
been considered as statesman and who had earned lot of respect not only in the
National Conference Party but even his
political opponent yet appreciate his
vision and political foresight. The argument given by the National Conference
leaders while opposing the proposal of implementation of 73rd
amendment is that it will erode the article 370 which gives special status to
the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Perhaps their leaders have either not read the
provisions of the 73rd amendment or they are deliberately misleading
the people of Jammu and Kashmir just to woo the separatists. Though I am not a
legal expert but somehow with little
knowledge of law after going through
all the provisions of 73rd amendment carefully I could not find even
a single section or sub section there which could erode article 370 or
undermine the special status of the
state. The only things this constitutional amendment provide is more autonomy
to the people through Panchayati Raj Insitution i.e Gram Sabha, Block
Development Council and then District Development and planning Board to take
decision with regard to their day to day needs like all the members and heads
of these panchayt panels must be the locals of the area so where the question
of eroding article 370 comes, no where in the this amendment the state would
loose its special status and this law if implemented in the state would also
not allow a non state subject to become the Panch or
Sarpanch. The argument of eroding state’s autonomy with 73rd
amendment is more or less merely a political gimmick and it is baseless just to
deprive the innocent villagers of their right to self governance at the local
level.
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“STATEMENT OF
OBJECTS AND REASONS: Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in
existence for a long time, it has been observed that these
institutions have not been able
to acquire the
status and dignity of
viable and responsive people's bodies
due to a number of reasons including
absence of regular elections, prolonged supersessions, insufficient representation of
weaker sections like Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
women, inadequate devolution
of powers and
lack of financial resources.
2. Article 40
of the Constitution which enshrines
one of the Directive Principles
of State Policy lays down that the State shall take
steps to organise village
panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be
necessary to enable them to function as
units of self-government. In the light of the experience in the last
forty years and in view of the short-comings which have been observed,
it is considered that there is an
imperative need to enshrine in the
Constitution certain basic and essential features of
Panchayati Raj Institutions to impart
certainty, continuity and strength to them. 3. Accordingly, it
is proposed to add a
new Part relating
to Panchayats in the
Constitution to provide for among other things, Gram
Sabha in a village or group of villages; constitution of Panchayats at village and other level or levels; direct elections to all seats in
Panchayats at the village and
intermediate level, if any, and to the
offices of Chairpersons of Panchayats at such levels; reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their
population for membership of Panchayats
and office of Chairpersons in
Panchayats at each level;
reservation of not less than
one-third of the seats for women;
fixing tenure of 5 years for
Panchayats and holding elections within a period of 6
months in the event of
supersession of any
Panchayat;
disqualifications for
membership of
Panchayats; devolution by the
State Legislature of powers
and responsibilities upon the
Panchayats with respect to the
preparation of plans for economic developments
and social justice and for the
implementation of development schemes;
sound finance of the
Panchayats by
securing authorisation
from State Legislatures for grants-in-aid to
the Panchayats from the
Consolidated Fund of the State,
as also assignment to, or appropriation by, the Panchayats of the
revenues of designated taxes, duties, tolls and fees; setting up
of a Finance Commission within one year of the
proposed amendment and thereafter
every 5 years
to review the
financial position of Panchayats; auditing of accounts of the
Panchayats; powers of State
Legislatures to make
provisions with respect
to elections to Panchayats under
the superintendence, direction and control of
the chief electoral officer of
the State; application of the provisions of the said Part to Union territories; excluding certain States and areas
from the application
of the provisions of the
said Part; continuance of
existing laws and Panchayats until one year from the commencement of
the proposed amendment and barring
interference by courts in
electoral matters relating to Panchayats. 4.
The Bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objectives”
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The
national conference leaders and all others who are opposing the extension of
central Panchayati law to the state of Jammu and Kashmir must clarify that when
the MGNREGA, central employment guarantee act
and Armed Forces Special Power Acts were implemented in the state then
how did these law do not affect the so called special status of the state. Why
only now the eyebrows are being raised now when the question of empowering
rural people is amplified. All those orchestrating against the empowered PRI’s
in the state must read the statement of objects and reasons given to give
constitutional status while making 73rd amendment of the Indian
Constitution. (The author is an RTI activist and
can be reached [a] jkrtiact@gmail.com,Mob: 9796811012).
