The elected representatives of Village Panchayats (Sarpanchs) from Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh opine that separation from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 has ushered in a new phase of development in the area. These Sarpanchs from the UT, who are on a training and exposure visit to Uttarakhand are of the view that Ladakh now is on the path of prosperity. Sarpanch of Pashkyum village located in Kargil district, Issa Ali Shah told The Pioneer that the development is now visible on ground and democracy at grass root level is thriving. He said that earlier Kashmir and Jammu regions used to share majority of funds allotted by the government but now more funds are available for the UT. The Sarpanch of Shey (B) village of Leh district, Padma Ladol said that the governance has become more transparent in the area. “Now we have 33 percent reservation in the local bodies which has empowered the women,’’ she said. The Sarpanchs of the region which has tough geographical terrain and extreme climatic condition were unanimous on the view that for Ladakh, the funds allotted to Panchayats should not be allowed to lapse at the end of year. “Even as we sit comfortably here, the temperature in my village is -25 degrees. We have only three to four months where construction and other activity can take place due to which the budget available is not utilised fully and a portion of it lapses. We want that the government should grant special relaxation to Ladakh so that the budget does not lapses and it rolls over to other year,’’ said Mohammad Hassan of Shargol village of Kargil district.

The nodal officer for the Panchayat tour Ladakh, Shabir Hussain told The Pioneer that the newly elected Panchayat representatives have learned a lot about functioning of Panchayati Raj system in Uttarakhand. He said that in Uttarakhand and other parts of the country the three tier Panchayati raj system is mature but in Ladakh it is still in infancy. The UT has village Panchayats and Block Development Councils (BDC) but the third tier, the District Development Councils (DDC) are not there. Hussain said that the government is now focusing on capacity building of the Panchayat representatives and the Uttarakhand tour is part of this mission.