KL Report
SRINAGAR
A day after Rahul Gandhi advised Omar Abdullah to implement 73rd amendment, Medical Education Minister and senior Congress leader Taj Mohi-u-Din Friday said that Rahul may not have been informed by State Congress that matter had been already resolved and National Conference during Coordination Committee had agreed upon that good provisions of Indian Panchayati Raj Act would be incorporated in our State Panchayati Raj Act.
Taj told CNS that there is no chaos and confusion on the issue now and it has already been resolved. “I don’t say there is communication gap between State Congress and Congress High Command, but one thing is sure that Rahul Gandhi was not informed that matter has already been resolved. If he would have been informed, Rahul would have never advised Omar Abdullah to implement 73rd amendment,” Taj said.
He said it is a wrong notion that Congress wanted to implement 73rd amendment in the State. “Our submission was that some good provisions of 73rd amendment should be incorporated in Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act and National Conference has now agreed upon this. Our State Panchayati Raj Act is the best Act but in order to empower Panchayati Raj Institutions, incorporation of some of the good provisions of 73rd amendment had become inevitable,” he said.
Taj further said that National Conference has agreed that District Chairman would not be a Minister but an elected fellow.
Confirming this, Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar told CNS that the issue has been resolved and some of the good provisions of 73rd amendment would be incorporated in State Panchayati Raj Act. “There will be no direct application of 73rd amendment but only its good provisions would be incorporated. There will be separate election commission and district chairman would be nominated through election,” Sagar said adding that the row is over now.
