Taranjit Singh Tony, General Secretary of J&K Pradesh Congress Committee and a member of the District Development Council (DDC) from Suchetgarh, boycotted the District Capex budget meeting held at the DC office in Jammu on Wednesday. He cited an “unauthorized deduction of Rs 38 lakhs” from his annual allocation of Rs 71.25 lakhs as the reason for his boycott.
After the meeting, Tony expressed his displeasure, stating, “Government directives mandate DDC members to actively participate in development plan formulation through Block Development Offices. However, some BDOs have disregarded these directives, marginalizing elected representatives.” Highlighting the significance of DDCs in the absence of other elected bodies in Jammu & Kashmir, he emphasized, “DDCs are the primary elected body where citizens seek resolution for their civic issues.”
Tony underscored the role of DDCs as the last bastion of democratic representation in the region and vowed to protect public interests from administrative overreach and corruption. He demanded the immediate restoration of his development funds by July 15, referencing a unanimous resolution passed by all DDC members to refund the deducted funds.
The meeting adjourned until July 15 to finalize the capex budget. Tony urged Block Development Officers to collaborate with DDCs in aligning development plans with government directives. He also called upon the Commissioner Secretary of RDD, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, to convene special meetings involving all relevant departments to ensure compliance with public demands across their respective DDCs.
