Congress will fight for the rights of Sarpanches : Rahul Gandhi
Jammu: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised sarpanches of Kashmir that his party will fight for their rights and build pressure on the state government for it.
Gandhi’s meeting with elected members of local self- government (Panchayati Raj) members also witnessed some drama with one of sarpanches complaining to him in the middle of his speech that they received “nothing from the state government”.
“We have got nothing from the state government.
Gandhi assured the sarpanches, “We will implement the 73rd amendment.” “You will get your right. I will fight this battle for you. I will keep coming and keep mounting pressure…You have to fight this battle. We are with you. We, all of us together, will put pressure on the state government. We are with you. This thing will happen cent per cent,” he said.
Reminding them that it had taken almost one-and-a-half years to ensure passage of the new Land Acquisition Bill, he said this will also eventually happen “not easily” but only after people fight for it.
Highlighting right-based schemes like MNREGA, RTI and food security brought by UPA, the Congress Vice President said these programmes cannot be implemented without Panchayati Raj and without sarpanches as “in order to implement these programmes, the leadership should be in villages.”
“This is the politics of the future and this is what will happen in Jammu and Kashmir as well. I want to assure you that in the time to come, you will get these rights…In 21st century, the Panchayats, the local bodies will have to be empowered.
“Decisions will be taken in villages in the 21st century. If we have to change Jammu and Kashmir, then first of all we will have to empower the leaders of Panchayats and local bodies…There is no other way to empower you if you have to run this state because MLAS, MPs cannot do what you can do. They don’t have the kind of knowledge about villages that you have,” Gandhi said.
The issue of incorporating 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution in the state’s Panchayati Raj Act has been a bone of contention between the two parties for some time.
Amid complaints from the gathering of sarpanches that nobody listens to their problems, the Congress Vice President said, “Had I not wanted to listen to you, there was no need for me to come here. I have come here because I want to listen to you.”
He said that he will keep building pressure till the issue is not resolved. “…We want to give the same powers, strength to panches and sarpanhces in Jammu and Kashmir what we are providing to them in other states. If you go to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, you will find politics interesting there because the sarpanches have power there. The district plans are made, local participation happens, meetings are held and people’s views come out.
