Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act gets Cabinet nod; check other decisions

Prakash Javadekar said the move will help establish all the three tiers of grassroots-level democracy in Jammu and Kashmir like in other parts of the country.

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday (October 21) approved the adoption of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. 

Briefing the press after the Cabinet meeting, Javadekar said the move will help establish all the three tiers of grassroots-level democracy in Jammu and Kashmir like in other parts of the country.

Prakash Javadekar said the three-tier system was not available in Jammu and Kashmir in the "pre-370 period", referring to Article 370 of the Constitution that was abrogated last year. The article gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Union Minister said that the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jammu and Kashmir and Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament now stands redeemed. This will help the people of Jammu and Kashmir elect their representatives at the village, block, and district levels, he added.

Javadekar also said that the process for local body polls would start soon. 

Procurement of 12 lakh tonne apple in J&K approved

The Cabinet also approved the extension of a scheme under which cooperative NAFED will procure 12 lakh tonne apple in Jammu and Kashmir during the current 2020-21 season.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) has also been allowed to use the government guarantee of Rs 2,500 crore for this operation. The losses, if any, will be shared between the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government on a 50:50 basis, according to an official statement.

The statement said, "The Union Cabinet approved the extension of Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for apple procurement in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for the current season also i.E. 2020-21 on the same terms and condition as was done in J&K during last season 2019-20." 

About 12 lakh tonne apple can be procured under this scheme directly from apple growers of Jammu and Kashmir, and the payment will be made through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into their bank account, it said. 

It further said that this will provide an effective marketing platform for apple growers and will facilitate the employment generation for the local people, adding that it will ensure remunerative prices for apple, resulting in the overall income enhancement of farmers in J&K.

Bonus for 30.67 lakh employees announced

The government also decided to give Rs 3,737 crore bonus to 30.67 lakh central government employees to encourage spending during the festival season and add to demand in the economy. The decision to give a productivity-linked bonus and non-productivity-linked bonus for 2019-2020 was taken at the Union Cabinet meeting, Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

He said the bonus ahead of Vijayadashami and Diwali will encourage the middle-class to go out and spend and thus add to the demand in the economy, adding the bonus will be disbursed in a week's time.

"Payment of Bonus to non-gazetted employees for their performance in the preceding year is usually made before Durga Puja/Dussehra season. The Government is announcing the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) and ad hoc bonus for its non-gazetted employees to be disbursed immediately," said an official press release.

The Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) for the year 2019-2020, having financial implications of Rs 2,791 crore, will benefit 16.97 lakh non-gazetted employees of commercial establishments like Railways, Posts, Defence, EPFO, ESIC, among others.

Non-PLB or ad-hoc Bonus, which is given to non-gazetted central government employees, will benefit 13.70 lakh staff. It will cost the exchequer Rs 946 crore.  A total of 30.67 lakh employees would be benefited from the bonus announcement and the total financial implication will be Rs 3,737 crore, the statement said.