Srinagar, Nov 7: With Congress claiming that it will complete its exercise about incorporation of certain leftover provisions of 73rd amendment of Indian Constitution in the State Panchayat Raj Act within two weeks, the National Conference Wednesday said there is no need of going for a parallel move as the party would first see what its alliance partner proposes. The NC further said that any change in the existing Panchayat Raj Act 1989 is the sole prerogative of the State Legislature.
“We are examining the State Panchayat Raj Act and 73rd amendment of the Indian Constitution. We will conclude the exercise within two weeks and come up with a report about what further provisions could be incorporated in the existing State Act,” State Congress Chief Saifuddin Soz told Greater Kashmir.
He said the Congress wants to strengthen the State Panchayat Raj Act by incorporating certain more clauses of the 73rd Amendment. “We don’t want any confrontation with our alliance partner on the issue. We want everything to be done in a transparent manner,” said Soz. “We agree with the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that amendments can’t be incorporated directly. But there are many ways to strengthen the existing Act.”
He said the Congress will discuss the provisions it wants to incorporate at “in-house level” before going to the Coordination Committee of the ruling alliance.
“Let the Congress complete its process. We will wait for what they further want to incorporate. Let us discuss the provisions which Congress wants to incorporate in the CC first and then in the Cabinet,” said Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Ali Muhammad Sagar.
Joining the chorus, Additional General Secretary NC, Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal said Panchayat Raj Act is not the personal property of NC. “It is a law passed by the State Legislature and the same institution will amend it if lawmakers feel so,” he said. “The authority to amend the law doesn’t lie with any political party.”
On why the NC opposed the direct implementation of 73rd amendment, he said the move would result in further erosion of JK’s autonomy. “How can we agree to something that erodes our autonomy further,” Kamaal said. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has made it clear that there is no question of direct implementation of 73rd amendment in JK.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 7 Nov 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 7 Nov 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 8 Nov 2012 00:00:00 IST