J-K govt to construct 1788 Panchayat Ghars

In an effort to bolster local governance, the Jammu and Kashmir government would construct 1788 Panchayat Ghars in the state.
Under 13th Finance Commission, the construction of 1788 Panchayat Ghars has been taken in hand for augmentation of rural infrastructure, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Ali Mohammad Sagar said today.
He was replying to the discussion on demand of grants for his ministry in the state Assembly.
He said that a grant in aid amount of Rs 72.24 crore has been released to panchayats for asset creation, furniture fixture and rent.
The Minister said besides empowering panchayats with powers of 14 vital departments. The government has decided to give honorarium to Sarpanches and Panches to strengthen Panchayati Raj in the state.

He said that in order to broaden the ambit of the Panchayati Raj Act, the amendments proposed by different quarters have been considered and the provision of giving representation to the under privileged classes and women has also been explored.

Panchayat Adalats have been notified by the concerned designated authority and Institute of Management of Public Administration (IMPA) has been asked to prepare a training module for their capacity building so that various disputes at village level can be settled within the community.
He said that directorates of social audits have been created and during current financial year, 1582 audits in 1271 panchayats have been conducted.

Sagar said steps are being taken to provide group life insurance cover to the panchayat representatives and during current financial year, new schemes of E-panchayats have been launched.
Referring to the flagship programme of MGNREGA, the Minister said that state employment guarantee fund has been created under the scheme and the wage rate has been enhanced to Rs 145 per day from April 2013.