All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) Friday stood for the deferment of State Assembly elections till the establishment of three-tier Panchayati Raj system in J&K by constituting Block Development Councils (BDCs) and District Development Planning Board (DDPBs). Anil Sharma, AJKPC State president AJKPC said a delegation of Sarpanches and Panches met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested him to seriously consider their demands. “We too want early elections to the State Legislative Assembly but it should be held after the constitution of three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the State as the political class will never allow the grassroots level democracy to flourish in full. After that is done, the elected Panchayat members will participate in Assembly elections,” he said during a press conference here. He warned that all 45,000 elected Sarpanches and Panches across the State will boycott Assembly elections “if the Centre and the State Government make any attempt to leave Panchayati Raj system disempowered.” He said that they have also demanded that the Centre and the State administration should devise a mechanism for paying Sarpanches and Panches a salary rather than an honorarium. “Each Sarpanch should be paid a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 while an amount of Rs 10,000 should be paid to each Panch every month so that they are able to smoothly carry out development activities in their respective Panchayats,” he said. He also said the elected Panchayat members should be paid an amount of Rs 25 lakh per annum to each Sarpanch on the pattern of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to ensure all-round development of rural masses. Sharma also asked for early clearance of ‘whopping’ 700 cr liabilities under MGNREGA scheme in the State.
