CPI (M) leader Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami Tuesday wrote a letter to Lieutenant Governor Manohj Sinha about the displeasure of the District Development Council (DDC) members about their honorarium.
“It has been almost a month since the newly-elected members of the DDCs, including their chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, expressed their dis-satisfaction while in Jammu regarding honorarium announced by the administration. It was only after your personal intervention and assurance for redress of their genuine grievances that they called off their protest,” Tarigami wrote in the letter. “Not only the DDC members, but all the representatives, elected from the grassroots, including panchayat and Block Development Council (BDC) members, must be empowered fully to realise the expectations of a strong Panchayti Raj system in this region.”
Tarigami wrote to LG Sinha that at the moment, the powers given to them were inadequate to effectively function as per their mandate.
“The procedural delays in formulating rules of the DDCs have kept these representatives in a state of uncertainty regarding their role and responsibility. Besides recently elected panchayats are, surprisingly, yet to be constituted. As the working season in the region, especially in Kashmir and hilly areas, is limited due to the weather conditions, it is imperative that a decision to empower the Panchayati Raj Institutions is taken at the earliest, so that proper functioning of these institutions is ensured and day-to-day issues of common people are addressed,” the letter reads.