Panches urge J-K govt to bring PRI amendment bill in Assembly

Panches and Sarpanches today urged the Omar Abdullah government to introduce in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly a Bill to incorporate 73rd and 74th amendments in the Constitution relating to empowerment of Panchayats.
"We urge Jammu and Kashmir government to bring a bill for passage of 73rd and 74th amendments in the next session of the Assembly," Sarpanch Parikshit Singh told reporters here.
Flanked by Panches and Sarpanches, he said, "We will see who are the legislators who oppose it. Those MLAs who do not want empowerment of people at the grassroots level would be exposed and they would face the music."

Singh, who had on Wednesday disrupted a speech of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi by holding anti-state government protests here, said, "The state government has done nothing for us."
He said if the government fails to introduce the Bill in the Assembly, Panches and Sarpanches would launch an agitation across the state.
"We will march to the Civil Secretariat. We will hold dharnas and protests in districts and tehsils," he said.
He denied having protested against Rahul Gandhi, saying, "The protests were against the Omar government. It was Omar who did nothing for our empowerment in the last three years.
"We are thankful to Rahul Gandhi for raising his voice for us. He stood by us, he supported us. He understands our problems and difficulties. The protests were never against him," he said.