JK govt to give life insurance to panchayat representatives

, April 2: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said steps were being taken to provide

to

representatives. "Honorarium and sitting fees of Panchayat Representatives have been fixed and steps are being taken to provide Life Insurance Cover," minister for rural development and panchayati raj, Ali Mohammad Sagar, said in the Legislative Council.

He said large sum of money was also spent on training the panchayat representatives under various schemes. "Under Backward Regions Grant Fund and Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojna, capacity building and extensive trainings are being provided to the Panchayat Representatives as per the national capacity building frame work and for the financial year 2012-2013, an amount of Rs 11.85 crore has been made available for the purpose," Sagar said.

The minister said an amount of Rs 230 crore under 13th Finance Commission has been released mainly for the construction of Panchayat Ghars and in convergence with other schemes, a target of 1,788 Panchayat Ghars is to be completed with full funding. He said as a grant in aid Rs 72.24 crore has been released to the Halqa Panchayats for asset creation, furniture and rent.

On MGNREGA, the minister said against the labour budget of Rs 1,077 crore for the financial year 2012-2013, an amount of Rs 1,365 crore has been approved for 2013-2014. "During the financial year 2012-2013 there has been an availability of Rs 912.37 crore against which an expenditure of Rs 620.41 crore has been made by ending February 2013," he said.

PTI