Decks cleared for panchayat polls in Kashmir: Minister

JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir government Saturday said decks have been cleared for holding panchayat elections in the state.

The announcement came after a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee, headed by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, tasked to sort out the issue of holding panchayat polls in the state.

“The committee held a detailed and thorough discussions on the subject and decided that a comprehensive report would be submitted to the cabinet shortly for ensuring Panchayati Raj elections as early as possible,” the statement quoted Rather as saying.

The minister said: “All the issues related to holding of panchayat elections in the state have been resolved amicably and there is no hitch now in this regard.”

But he did not mention whether the provisions of the two amendments at the national level would be incorporated in the states Panchayati Raj act.

“The government is keen to hold the panchayat elections in the state at the earliest to decentralize powers at grass-roots level and to empower the people through devolution of power,” he added.