Panchayat members begin fast

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 3

Elected sarpanches and panches from different parts of the Kashmir Valley and the Jammu division, under the banner of the All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC), today began their 168-hour-long fast against the non-payment of the Rs 1,000-crore MGNREGA liabilities.

The elected panchayat members also demanded adequate security cover to sarpanches and panches in vulnerable areas and enhancement of their monthly honorarium from existing Rs 2,500 (sarpanch) and Rs 1,000 (panch) to “a respectable and reasonable amount”.The panchayat members who sat on fast were AJKPC president Anil Sharma, sarpanches Jatinder Singh, Sham Lal, Des Raj and Koda Ram.

In the morning, hundreds of sarpanches and panches assembled near the statute of Pt Prem Nath Dogra at Dogra Chowk here and raised slogans against the government for its alleged failure to clear the MGNREGA liabilities.

The AJKPC president, in his address, said they had put the UT administration on a legal notice for 15 days for clearing the pending wages of poor labourers who executed works under the MGNREGA scheme three to four years ago.

“At least 25 days have passed since then but the government did not give any heed to our demand for clearing the liabilities, forcing us to start this strike,” Sharma alleged.

The AJKPC leader also referred to the recent terror attack on the “Back to Village” programme in Anantnag that claimed the lives of a sarpanch and an agriculture officer while demanding security cover for panchayat members.

“Our sarpanches and panches have been working under fear psychosis in Kashmir Valley and other vulnerable areas, but the administration has never seriously looked into security threat to them. We demand that adequate security cover should be given to the elected panchayat members in vulnerable areas,” he said.