A day after the J&K government fixed their honorariums and allotted them equivalent ranks in the bureaucratic hierarchy, newly elected members of the district development councils on Tuesday boycotted the scheduled two-day training programme at Convention Centre Canal Road, Jammu demanding a hike in the fixed honorarium.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was scheduled to address the inaugural day of the event as the chief guest.
But the event could not take off after the members staged a sit-in against the government order wherein it fixed Rs 35,000 honorarium for DDC Chairpersons and Rs 25,000for VCs and Rs 15,000 for the members saying it was “very less”.
The government also placed the chairpersons of District Development Councils equivalent to Administrative Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners and Inspector General of Police (IGPs) in the warrant of precedence.
The vice-chairpersons of DDCs are equivalent to Vice-Chancellors of Universalities within the Union Territory as they are placed at serial number 27.
The protesting members demanded a roll back of the government order and did not budge despite repeated appeals from the administration including Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Sushma Chauhan, eyewitnesses told Greater Kashmir.
They said that they would continue their protest and boycott the event till their demand is not met.
As the protest continued, LG Sinha did not turn up to attend the function till the filing of this report.