Cabinet approves adaptation of J&K Panchayati Raj Act

The Union Cabinet yesterday approved adaptation of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989.

Briefing media in New Delhi Wednesday afternoon, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar said, the move will establish three tiers of grass-root level democracy in Jammu and Kashmir like in other parts of the country.

He said, it was promised by Prime Minister in Kashmir and by Home Minister in the Parliament.  

Mr Javadekar said, the Cabinet also approved productivity linked bonus and non-productivity linked Bonus for the non-gazetted central government employees for 2019-2020.

He said, more than 30 lakh employees will benefited by the bonus announcement and total financial implication will be Rs. 3,737 crore.

The bonus will be given in a single installment before Vijaydashmi.

The Cabinet also approved the extension of Market Intervention Scheme, MIS for apple procurement in Jammu and Kashmir for the current season on the same terms and condition as was done during last season.

The procurement will be done by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited, NAFED through State Designated Agency, Directorate of Planning and Marketing, and Jammu and Kashmir



Horticulture Processing and Marketing Corporation directly from apple farmers of Jammu and Kashmir.

The payment will be made through Direct Benefit Transfer, into bank accounts of apple farmers.

Government has allowed NAFED to utilize Government Guarantee of Rs. 2,500 Crore for this operation.

The losses, if incurred any in this operation, will be shared between Central Government and UT administration of Jammu and Kashmir on 50:50 basis.    

The  Designated Price Committee of last Season will be continued for the fixation of price of various variety and grades of apples for this season also.

Smooth and continuous implementation of the procurement process will be monitored by a Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary at the central level and Implementation and Coordination Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary at the UT Level.

The decision will provide an effective marketing platform to apple growers and  facilitate employment generation for the local people.

It will ensure remunerative prices for apples resulting in overall income enhancement of farmers in Jammu and Kashmir.