Srinagar: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday said that Jammu and Kashmir is heading towards peace and progress and panchayat members should further work for strengthening the institutions of the government.
Speaking at the Parliamentary Outreach Programme for Panchayat Institutions, Birla said that panchayat raj institutions and panchayat members should work for the welfare and development of the people.
"Panchayat institutions should be accountable to the people. Until the panchayat system will not be made working, democratic institutions in the country will not get strengthened," Birla said.
The programme was held at SKICC where the District Development Council chairpersons, vice-chairpersons and panchayat members participated in the program.
Birla said that the aim of holding programmes for panchayat members is to make them aware of their role and give them a sense of empowerment.
Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha was also present at the event along with his advisors and senior officials. Sinha said that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the delimitation exercise is completed by the delimitation commission. He said that the Election Commission of India will announce the dates as it is the authority mandated to decide the time and date of the elections.
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Sinha said that the Home Minister of the country has promised on the floor of the Parliament that statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will be restored at an appropriate time. "So people should trust in the word of the Home Minister's statement made in the Parliament," he said.
On the security situation, Sinha said that stone-pelting has become a "history" now and all security agencies are working in coordination to maintain law and order in Jammu and Kashmir. "Recruitment (of militants) and infiltration from across has come down as per the data with security agencies," he said.
