SRINAGAR, Nov 6: Union Panchayati Raj Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo on Tuesday said he agreed with the state government’s stand that it was not possible to provide security to all of them but said they should be given powers to perform.
He said he has been writing to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in this regard and had recently sent his Additional Secretary to Srinagar for the same purpose.
“I have written to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The Ministry is taking up the matter with the state government. I have been talking to them over phone. I had also sent my Additional Secretary there for this,” Deo told reporters in New Delhi.
He was replying to a query on the state of Panchayats and sarpanchs in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I agree with the state government’s view that it is not possible to provide security to all 40,000 sarpanchs. But the main aspect is that we have trained the sarpanchs and got them elected. But you have not devolved any funds and functions. So, what else do you expect? This could also be one of the reasons for sarpanchs feeling insecure in the state,” he said.
An amalgam of the Panchayat members of the state had recently issued a deadline to the state government to provide them with security cover after a threat by militant group Hizbul Mujahideen’s supremo, Syed Salahuddin.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently said that security to each and every Panchayat member was not necessary as except for 30-40 militants operating in three districts, most of the areas in Jammu region were free of militancy.
In Kashmir Valley, he said, where some areas face militant threat, the Central and state intelligence agencies is making on the spot assessment of the threat perception and government will take action accordingly.
