Grassroots Democracy: Vohra revives long-denied dream, begins Panchayat election process

Sarpanches to be elected directly, not through Panches

JAMMU: While the speculations on such a decision were rife ever since he took over as the administrator of state on June 20, it was only 23 days later that Governor N N Vohra set the ball rolling for revival of grassroots democracy in state, one of his long-denied dreams- and probably the most significant one.
A little over eight months after he had made the first step towards holding the Panchayats elections by promulgating an ordinance last year in November- empowering the State Chief Electoral Officer to determine and de-limit halqa panchayats and to conduct the polls—later denied by the previous dispensation ‘in view of non-conducive environment’, the Governor on Thursday directed the Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj to initiate the process of holding elections to around 4500 Panchayats-pending for more than two years now.
In another significant decision, Vohra also approved an amendment to the legislation, thus paving way for conducting elections of Sarpanches of Halqa Panchayats directly by the electorate of Halqa Panchayats, a position altered by an amendment passed in 2016 which had envisaged electing Sarpanches by indirect method of electing from among the Panches themselves, a move the Governor stressed will restore the primacy and importance of the Sarpanches in the Panchayati Raj System and giving them the necessary legitimacy to be able to discharge their functions.
The governor took these decisions while chairing the meeting of the State Administrative Council (SAC)- second in as many days.
Vohra, who had repeatedly emphasised the crucial importance of empowering the Panchayats with no less than 4 Chief Ministers- Ghulam Nabi Azad, Omar Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Syed and then Mehbooba Mufti over his two continuous terms in state, had laid special stress on holding the elections on time with previous CM.
Vohra, who had joined as Governor on June 25, 2008, has been pushing for the empowerment and timely holding the elections to the grassroots democracy in state. There could still be found mentions in political and bureaucratic circles of how hard and consistent was Vohra’s persuasion with then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the aftermath of 2010 violence.
The panchayat elections were finally held in 2011 and went on to become a hugely success story, especially in the wake of the fact that elections were announced months after the devastating agitation of 2010 which had claimed more than 120 lives and it looked like at one point that the idea of peace in Kashmir is irreversibly lost.
While there was nothing to discredit Omar Abdullah who himself was very keen but primarily it was Governor Vohra’s strong and consistent persuasion with him that finally the state went to Panchayat polls, being talked in different parts of the world as well. In some places of the Kashmir, as high as 86% polling was registered as the hopes got rekindled of the people who had lost more than just hopes while witnessing the 2010 crisis.
Even as the term of last elected panchayats were coming to an end in July 2016, Governor had started stressing then Mufti-led government for ensuring there be no delay in conducting the fresh elections.
The last time when it was Governor’s own administration in the state for close to 3 months- 8 January to 4 April 2016-after the death of Mufti Mohammad Syed, Vohra had almost rolled out Panchayat polls. When he was giving the final touch to the poll schedule and state budget, the government was formed with Mehbooba as the new Chief Minister.
The term of panchayat bodies ended months later, but fresh elections couldn’t be held due to the troubled atmosphere following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July 2016, leading to unrest in Valley for next 4 months and claiming again over a 100 lives.
Since the summer of 2016, the Governor, in discussions with the Chief Minister pressed for the early conduct of elections to both the urban and rural self-governing bodies.
However, irked over the delay, Governor in what probably was first of his last efforts approved the urgent promulgation of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, that too during the Darbar Move recess- where such moves have not been made usually- so as to ensure that no time is lost in commencing preparations for the conduct of the pending elections.
By promulgating the ordinance, the governor had empowered the State Chief Electoral Officer Shaheen Kabra to determine and de-limit halqa panchayats and to conduct the Panchayat elections.
There are around 28,770 seats in 4,110 local bodies- seven in each, across the 6,652 villages, 143 blocks and 82 tehsils of 22 districts of state.
As the 2017 came to an end, the previous government announced to hold the elections from February 15, 2018, only to postpone them once again when the majority had advocated defer them in an All Party Meeting (APM) chaired by Mehbooba in February this year, leaving the Governor’s hopes dashed once again.
However, the turnaround following the fall of PDP-BJP coalition on June 19, has given yet another opportunity to Vohra, to not to demit his office-whenever he do- as a disappointed person.
In Thursday’s meeting, Vohra’s cabinet directed the Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj to initiate the process of holding elections to Panchayats in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K.
“With the holding of elections to the Panchayats, the institution of local self-governance at the village level will be revived in the state, thereby furthering inclusion and percolation of benefits of decentralized planning at the grass-root level.
“It will also ensure greater participation of people in planning and formulation of area specific policies and programmes and hence their involvement in decision making process,” the Governor observed.
In another major decision, the SAC also approved the proposal to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, for conducting elections of Sarpanches of Halqa Panchayats directly by the electorate of Halqa Panchayats and not by indirect method of electing Sarpanches from among the Panches themselves. This will restore the original position in the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, which provided for direct elections of Sarpanches, a position altered by an amendment passed in 2016.
The need for doing this amendment was to restore the primacy and importance of the Sarpanches in the Panchayati Raj System and giving them the necessary legitimacy to be able to discharge their functions, an official spokesperson said.
“This provides stability in the Panchayati Raj System and ensures accelerated development which meets local needs. Direct elections also make the Sarpanches accountable directly to the people rather than to an intermediate group. Further, this amendment brings the spirit of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act,” the meeting, attended also by Advisors to the Governor, B B Vyas, K Vijay Kumar and Khurshid Ahmad Ganai besides Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, observed.