Srinagar: The newly-elected District Development Council (DDC) members on Wednesday called off their two-day long protest after getting an assurance from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha whom they are meeting on Friday.
“However we will decide our future course of action after the meeting with the Lt Governor regarding warrant of precedence and honorarium scale set up by the Union Territory administration,” a group of DDC members said.
The newly-elected DDC members had on Tuesday boycotted a two-day training programme here and staged a protest in support of their demand for better status and monthly honorarium, forcing the Lt Governor to cancel his inaugural session.
Various political parties including the BJP, the Congress, the CPI(M) and the Peoples’ Conference came out in support of the agitating DDC members and urged Lt Governor Sinha to ensure they have adequate powers to mobilise government departments and address public grievances.
The DDC members staged the protest after the UT administration amended its warrant of precedence, placing the DDC chairpersons equivalent to administrative secretaries, vice chairpersons to vice-chancellors of universities and the DDC members to district magistrates.
As per the government order, the DDC chairpersons would get monthly honorarium of Rs 35,000 including Rs 1,500 travel allowance and Rs 500 telephone charges. Vice chairpersons will get Rs 25,000 including Rs 1,500 travel allowance and Rs 500 telephone charges and members will get Rs 15,000 including Rs 1,500 travel allowance and Rs 500 telephone charges.
“We have received a message from the Lt Governor, who is presently out of the station, and is coming back on March 12 for a meeting to address our genuine demands,” DDC chairperson and senior BJP leader Bharat Bushan told reporters at Exhibition Ground here.
Bushan was flanked by other DDC members affiliated with different parties including the Congress, National Conference, PDP, CPI(M) and independents who had assembled at the place to resume the protest this morning.
Bushan said they are calling off the protest on the assurance of L-G Sinha that “injustice will be undone”.
“We have formed a committee, composed mostly of DDC chairpersons from across the Union Territory, and they will hold the meeting with the Lt Governor. We are hopeful of a peaceful resolution of the issue,” he said. (KNS)
