Jammu Tawi, Mar 16: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that after the constitution of District Development Council (DDCs), District Development Boards (DDB) have ceased to exist.
Similarly, the District Planning Committee chaired by the Member of Parliament representing the area has taken the place of DDB.
The Minister of State (MoS) GK Reddy, in a written reply filed in Lok Sabha said that as per information provided by Union Territory of J&K, there was no provision of District Development Councils (DDCs) in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Reddy informed that the Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989 was adapted through the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Fourth Order, 2020 and was notified on 16th October 2020.
“The adapted law provides for direct election of Sarpanch/Panch and members of DDC. Further, every DDC shall have a fund to be called the DDC fund comprising grants by the government and its own resources,” Reddy said.
The reply reads that the members of DDC exercise and perform functions as per the mandate provided in section 46 of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, as adapted.
“After the constitution of DDCs, District Development Boards have ceased to exist in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and District Planning Committee chaired by the Member of Parliament representing the area, has taken the place of DDBs”, the reply reads.
The reply further reads that the District Planning Committees perform functions as envisaged in section 47B of the said order.
Notably, Government of India (GOI) recently conducted the maiden DDC elections across Jammu and Kashmir with a chairperson representing each district comprising of a total of 14 members.
