Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference(AJKPC), the premier registered organization of elected Panchayat members working for strengthening the grass root level democratic institutions in J & K today held a special Press Conference in the city wherein besides Anil Sharma, President of the AJKPC other senior functionaries of the organization from Kashmir Zone also addressed the media.
AJKPC President who has been on tour of different Panchayats, Blocks and districts of Kashmir division since last fortnight briefed the media person about the AJKPC team’s experience and expectation of the people of Kashmir with regard to working of PRIs in Jammu and Kashmir.
He commend the people of Kashmir division and stated that contrary to the perception as made by a section of media, majority of Kashmiris believe in peace, democracy and development.
Sharma claimed that during their interaction with the ordinary Kashmiris it could be easily concluded that people there prefer ‘Gram Sabha’ over ‘Vidhan Sabha’.
He said there is general belief in the minds of People of Kashmir region that all the previous regimes had exploited them with different political slogans but did nothing on ground.
He appealed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to with hold Legislative Assembly elections for next two years and instead extend the tenure of existing panchayts as people of J & K have witnessed an era of development through Panchayats during Last 3 years which they had not even experienced during last 70 years.
He said ordinary people of Jammu and Kashmir easily associate themselves with the Gram Sabhas as they are within their reach whereas a commoner cannot even enter a Vidhan Sabha, nor the MLAs accessible to them.
He stated at present instead of 89 MLAs J & K have over 40,000 elected Panchayat representatives who are working day and night for the betterment of rural population. Gram Sabhas are the real model of participatory system of democracy and decentralization of Power, he further added. It is pertinent to mention here that from the last 15 days under the block wise series of Programs, AJKPC have conducted programs in different districts of Kashmir division including Anantnag, Kulgam, Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian, Ganderbal, Budgam and Bandipore. Sharma also reiterated the demand of AJKPC regarding launching a full fledged campaign against organized drug mafia in J & K.
The prominent people who addressed the press include BDC AK Pandita, Nazir Ahmed Raina, Irshad Ahamed Parry,Gh wani, Zahoor Malik, Manoj Pandita, Mohd Yousuf shan,Yar mohd paswal ,ab qoyoom Mir, mohd Ramzan dar, Ali mohd rather, Gh Hassan Malik, imtiyaz hussan Mir, mohd Ashraf Khan , ab Rasheed Mir, mohd Shafi paray ,Bashir ah mala.
