Political executive in J&K state in the last few decades has witnessed deep and systematic disempowerment Jammu & Kashmir state has a peculiar political situation which can hardly be equated with the situation of states in rest of the country. The demands for the extension of the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Indian Constitution to J&K state by certain political formations seem to take a view which does not reflect sensitivity to the states peculiar political situation. The fact is that the political executive in J&K state in the last few decades has witnessed deep and systematic disempowerment, despite enjoying a special status within the Indian union. The loss of that power - as enshrined in the scheme of distribution of powers between the state and the union of India - has placed J&K state in a situation where its executive powers dont even match the powers of non-special category states in the country. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Indian Constitution in fact did some good for the empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the rest of the country, but what is important in J&Ks case is not necessarily the extension of these amendments per se to this state but rather the spirit of that empowerment, which could be granted to J&Ks PRIs in line with the states special political position. What J&Ks political parties need to do is quickly come up with an alternative scheme of empowerment that, while capturing the spirit of empowerment as stipulated in 73rd and 74th Amendments, would take care of the systemic and structural lacunae in the present system of the functioning of these grassroots institutions. It is important to note, as what several political analysts have observed, that the extension of the 73rd and 74th amendments per se to J&K has a possibility of resulting in a power asymmetry that may not help in durable peace and stability of the state. At the end of the day one of the underlying assumptions for an empowered PR system is a state political structure that functions in accordance with the principles of rule of law and constitutional supremacy. The political and constitutional scheme of division of powers between J&K state and the union of India today is under cute stress and does not follow the theoretical provisions as originally envisaged. Under these circumstances, PRI empowerment in J&K has to go beyond the simplistic theoretical debate.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 12:47:43 +0000
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