Omar govt rendered PRIs defunct in J-K: AJKPC

All Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) today requested the Centre to take note of the state government's failure in implementing centrally-sponsored schemes in rural areas.
"We request the Centre to take cognisance of the state government's failure in effective implementation of centrally-sponsored schemes in rural areas," AJKPC general secretary Anil Sharma said in a statement here.
He urged the Centre to directly release funds under centrally sponsored schemes to BDOs to expedite development activities at village level.
Taking a dig at the Omar Abdullah government for its failure to empower PRIs in the state, he regretted that the government has not released any funds to panchayats under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) despite five months of the current fiscal.

Sharma said all major schemes for welfare of people in rural areas of the state have remained on papers.
Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir were still deprived of benefits from the Centre's Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), he said and warned, AJKPC would intensify its agitation if the state government does not release funds to PRIs within a fortnight.