Elected members
The election of district development councils is a huge step taken by the central government as the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir seem to be not in near future.
The government is concerned about the development to reach at the grass roots and for these purpose elections to the councils and also to the 13 thousand panchayat seats will provide the much needed push for the development to become visible at the ground level.
Recently the government has formed committees to set in motion the election of panchayat seats and also to these district councils. Additional deputy commissioners in every district of Jammu and Kashmir would be the chairman of the council while all the 14 members in each district would be on his seat by elections.
These councils will hold at least 4 meetings in a year that means for every financial quarter there would be a district council meeting in order to give a real push to the development agenda for the ground.
The scope of the functions of the DDCs, have been amplified by the addition of the planning process being handed over directly to the elected representatives. Earlier, the DCs would prepare plans, and the DDBs would meet to approve them or make changes.
Under this new system, with the Halqa Panchayat as the basic unit, the district’s yearly and five-yearly development plans will be finalized by a three-tier system of gram panchayats, Block Development Councils, and District Development Councils. The DDCs will receive plans from Block Development Councils and, after scrutiny, send them “for adherence to the Government guidelines, norms and rules” and submit the consolidated plan to the District Planning Committee.
