Jammu and Kashmir government responsible for the killing of sarpanchs: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

 Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday held the ruling coalition government in the state responsible for the killing of panchs and sarpanchs in the Kashmir valley during the past three years.

"National Conference(NC)-Congress coalition government is responsible for the recurrent killings of panchs and sarpanchs during last three years," Singh said while addressing an election rally in Kathua on Monday.

He said that the state government failed to implement the 73 amendment in the state which deprived the elected representatives of the people adequate administrative and financial empowerment. "This made them vulnerable to the disenchantment endanger of their electorate, while on the other hand despite repeated pleas, the NC led government refused to given them adequate security," he said.

He said that BJP was the first party that demanded the introduction of Amendment 73 and 74 in the state, but the state government did not pay heed to their demands. "It is strange that National Conference which clamors for "autonomy", cares little about granting autonomy at grassroots level to Panchayats and local bodies. Does the NC want "autonomy" only for itself and its ruling family? " he said.

Singh accused the National Conference and the Congress leadership of misleading the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the issue of implementation of 73 and 74 amendments in the state. "They did not implement these amendments as their implementation would mean the panchs and sarpanchs getting direct access to the central grants, thus it would have deprived these two parties from embezzling the central funds," he said.