J&K to have district planning committees to guide formulation of development programme & plans

Srinagar, Dec 05 : Every district in Jammu & Kashmir will also have a district planning committee comprising of elected representatives and officials to guide formulation of development programmes and plans.

As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the amendments made by the Government of India in Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act-1989 provide a legal framework for setting up district planning committees in the Union Territory.

The planning committee shall comprise members of parliament representing the area, members of the state legislature representing the areas within the district, chairperson of the district development council of the district, chairpersons of the town area committees/municipal committees of the district,president of the municipal council/municipal Corporation, if any, district development commissioner, additional district development commissioner, district statistics and evaluation officer and chief planning officer .

According to amendments, all district level officers shall be ex-officio members of the committee, while the Member of Parliament representing the area shall be the chairperson of the committee.

The district planning committee has been empowered to consider and guide the formulation of development programmes for the district and indicate priorities for various schemes and consider issues relating to the speedy development and economic upliftment of the district.

The panel will function as a working group for formulation of periodic and annual plans for the District.

It will also formulate and finalise the plan and non-plan budget for the district. The district planning committees would be in addition to district development councils for which elections are currently underway in UT for their constitution—(KNO)