SRINAGAR, AUGUST 1: The State Administrative Council (SAC), which met here last evening approved amendments to the Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 to provide for consultation with Halqa Majlis before preparing the development plan for a Panchayat.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship f Governor, Shri N N Vohra.
“The decision is a step towards devolution of more powers to the people who will be empowered to take decisions about their developmental requirements/ area specific activities,” official handout said.
It further said that in order to provide continuity to the development of Panchayats and in the absence of Halqa Panchayats, the amendment empowers the concerned BDO to collect fee/ taxes already imposed by the Halqa Panchayat.
“To facilitate the process of early Panchayat elections in the State, the SAC approved amendment proposed by Department of RD&PR to exclude the Sarpanch from the minimum and maximum number of Panchs in a Panchayat, so that no fresh exercise of delimitation of Panchayats is required to be undertaken,” it said.
