Union Cabinet approves adoption of J&K Panchayati Raj Act, local body polls to be held in J&K for first time

The Union Cabinet on October 21, 2020 approved the adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, paving way for local body elections in the Union territory. The information was shared by Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar during a cabinet briefing. 

While people across India enjoyed the right to elect local representatives, the same freedom was not exercised in Jammu and Kashmir till now. The adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act will, however, change that now. 

The Cabinet decision will enable the establishment of all three tiers of grassroots-level democracy in J&K union territory for the first time since independence. The process for the same is expected to begin soon. 

Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act: Key Highlights 

• The adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act will now open the way for local body elections. As per Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, there will be early elections and the power to manage local bodies will go to the people. He emphasised that true grassroots democracy will be established in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time in 73 years after independence. 

• The Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 was amended and notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on October 17, 2020. The amendment paves way for the creation of District Development Councils (DDCs), whose members will be directly elected by the people.

• As per the amendment, the DDCs will have jurisdiction over the entire district, excluding those areas designated as municipalities or municipal corporations. Every district in J&K will now be divided into 14 territorial constituencies to elect members of the body.

• The DDC shall comprise directly elected members from territorial constituencies in the district, MLAs representing a part or whole of the district whose constituencies lie within the district and Chairperson of all Block Development Councils of the district.

• All DDC members, whether or not elected by direct election from the territorial constituencies shall have the right to vote in the meeting of the District Development Council.

• The MLAs will have no voting rights in case of election or removal of the chairman and vice-chairman. Only the directly elected members will have voting rights.

Background

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has been working on the adaptation of other laws following the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special powers to the former state and its division into two Union territories. Jammu and Kashmir was divided into two Union Territories- J&K and Ladakh. 

The Union Cabinet also approved the extension of the market intervention scheme for apple procurement in the Union territory for the current season. With this, the procurement of apples will be done by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) through the state-designated agency directly from apple farmers of Jammu and Kashmir.

Under this scheme. the payment to the farmers will be made directly through a direct benefit transfer scheme into their bank accounts. Almost 1.2 million metric tonnes of apples can be procured under this scheme.