New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said the constitution of District Development Councils (DDCs) will open a new chapter for Jammu and Kashmir.

He said people are going to get a voice through these councils which will have a communication channel for redressal of their issues.

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"Constituting of District Development Councils will be opening of a new chapter for Jammu & Kashmir. This will be the first time in seven decades that people here will understand the true essence of democracy," said Singh, the Union Minister of State for Personnel.

Hitting out at the previous governments led by the Congress and the National Conference for not allowing District Development Councils to be constituted in Jammu and Kashmir, he said they did so because they wanted to keep all the authority centralised with them so that they could manipulate and embezzle the funds coming from the Centre as part of the allocation for local bodies.

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"It will be through the local bodies including Panchayat and District Development Council members that priorities will be decided for carrying out even small development works like construction of lanes and drains, instead of leaving this to the discretion of higher authorities who are not directly connected with the ground situation," Singh told PTI.

The minister has been campaigning for the ongoing DDC polls in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first election in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, last year.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)