The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, 21 October approved the adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989. This was amended and notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 17 October.
The amendment has paved the way for the establishment of elected District Development Councils in Jammu and Kashmir, members of which will be directly elected by voters of the Union Territory, reported The Hindu.
While breifing the media, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said: “Under this, a three-tier panchayat system will be established there. This decision will help in establishing all the three levels of democracy at the grassroots level in Jammu and Kashmir like other parts of the country.”
The Union Minister further stated that the three-tier system was not available in Jammu and Kashmir before the “370 period,” referring to the abrogation of article 370 in August 2019.
People of Jammu and Kashmir will be able to elect their representatives at the village, block and district levels, Javadekar said.
He further stated that the step redeems the promise made by the Prime Minister in Kashmir and the Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament.
According to the minister, the process for local body polls would start soon, reported PTI.
On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet also gave its assent for Productivity Linked Bonus or PLB for the year 2019-2020. This means that an immediate disbursal of Rs 3,737 crore of bonus and non-productivity linked bonus to approximately 30 lakh central government employees will take place, according to TOI.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindu)
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