Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government
on Tuesday said it has no proposal to extend 74th Amendment of the
Constitution to the state as there were already legislations
in place which are more or less compliant with its provisions.
"There is no proposal to extend the 74th Amendment of the
Constitution to the state of Jammu and Kashmir," Deputy Chief
Minister Tara Chand said in a written reply to a question in
the J&K Assembly on Tuesday.
The reply came in response to a question by BJP MLA
Chaman Lal Gupta on why the elections to the municipal bodies
were not being held.
Chand, who holds the Urban development portfolio, said
the state municipal laws - Jammu and Kashmir Municipal
Corporation Act 2000 and Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act 2000- are more or less compliant with the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act.
Most of the notable features of the 74th Amendment Act
are contained in the existing municipal laws of the state, he
said.
On the delay on holding civic polls, he said the Chief
Electoral Officer has informed that the elections of urban
local bodies can be conducted only after delimitation of the
newly-created municipal councils and committees.
"The delimitation exercise is being carried out in
respect of the municipal committees and councils wherever new
areas have been excluded or included," he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the polls were earlier
scheduled to be held in May this year but had to be put off
due to certain deficiencies pointed out by some MLAs in the
electoral rolls.
"The state government has conveyed to Chief Electoral
Officer to initiate and complete the process of delimitation
of wards and preparation of electoral rolls for holding the
elections," he said.
PTI
