SOHAIL PUNJABI
Jammu: Shafiq Mir was on Wednesday re-elected as chairman of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat conference here. The election of the organisation was held at Jammu on Wednesday in which large number of newly elected Sarpanches and Panches from all districts of the state participated and gave voice vote in favor Shafiq Mir as state head of the organisation for next term of the Panchayats in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mir has been credited of convincing the central government to hold Panchayat elections in the state when all major political parties boycotted these polls.
On this occasion, two provincial presidents were also elected including Aftab Ahmed Beg (Kashmir) and Arun Kumar Sharma (Jammu). Apart from this, sixteen district presidents of the organisation were also announced on this occasion by the chairman who have been authorized to constitute the further units of the organisation at block levels.
While thanking the Panchayat members for reposing their faith in him, Shafiq Mir gave the details of the achievements of Panchayat conference led by him in the past five years of its tenure. Mir said that it was only the efforts of Panchayat conference due to which the Panchayat elections were held in the state despite opposition of all political parties which never wanted such institution to come up in the state.
“Even the previous state government had completely destroyed the Panchayati Raj Act by making some amendments due to which the Sarpanch election was completely deleted from the act. We took up this matter with the central government and got amendment made in the act through governor’s ordinance.”
This, he said, is major achievement of Panchayat conference. “it was only the efforts of Panchayat conference and the initiative of the central government that these elections could be possible.”
