Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah said that his government intended to hold the deferred Panchayat elections in the state on non-party basis.
The Panchayat elections which were due in September this year had to be postponed because of the turmoil that began in June and has so far claimed 112 lives and left hundreds others wounded.
Though the hard-line separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani spearheading the ongoing agitation in Kashmir has called for a boycott of the Panchayat polls in Kashmir whenever held, the chief minister's statement makes the governments resolve clear to go ahead with polls in the state.
The state authorities have already ordered revision of the electoral rolls in the state as a first preparatory step for the Panchayat elections.
"We intend to hold non-party Panchayat elections from January 2011", the chief minister said and 'laid stress on large scale participation of men and women to elect the right candidates as their representatives'.
Omar Abdullah said that the micro-planning of development and implementation of schemes at Panchayat level could be better performed by the Panches and Sarpanches instead of the officers at the Secretariat level.
He said public representatives at village level were better placed to adjudge the priorities of works in accordance to the aspirations of people.
"They would act as best monitors of schemes and captains of integrated development", the chief minister said while addressing a public meeting at Reasi in Jammu region.
