JAMMU: All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) staged a strong protest against the arbitrary decision of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department to transfer Jammu region’s lone Panchayat Bhawan to State Procurement Supply Agency (SPSA) for the purpose of its office accommodation.
Scores of BDC members, Sarpanches and Panches, led by AJKPC UT president Anil Sharma, gathered at Panchayat Bhawan Railway Road here today and raised slogans against the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Department, demanding immediate revocation of the order transferring Panchayat Bhawan and its assets to SPSA. The protestors strongly resented that the Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department has taken a unilateral decision which has hurt thousands of PRI members across Jammu region. “Panchayat Bhawan was built by the J&K Government exclusively for Panchayats after 2011 elections to provide facilities and amenities to the members of the Panachayti Raj Institutions (PRIs).
This Bhawan symbolizes the institution of Panchayats and the PRI members feel a sense of belongingness with this institution,” Anil Sharma said while addressing the protestors. “In 2011, it was due to constant and long efforts of Panchayat members, two Bhawans-one each in Jammu and Srinagar, were built for elected PRI members. The department did not apply any mind while transferring Panchayat Bhawan in Jammu to SPSA. This is not the personal property of the department or anybody else. This Bhawan belongs to all Panchayat members,” Sharma said while requesting for immediate revocation of the order.
The AJKPC leader said the Panchayat Bhawan was being used by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj for providing training to PRI members and accommodation to visiting PRI members from far off places who otherwise cannot afford private accommodation and for holding meetings. Sharma warned that the Panchayat members would launch a mass agitation if the department concerned failed to revoke the controversial order with immediate effect.
Others who spoke on the occasion were Des Raj Bhagat, Jatinder Singh, Ram Dayal, Pawan Singh, BDC chairperson Jeevan Sharma, Jagdish Raj, Om Prakash and Kailash Dutt.
