Will it satisfy?
The recent amendments to the writ of protocol announced by the JK administration for the DDC chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and members has not evoked any reaction so far from them and the question being asked in the media circles is will it satisfy their demands.
The agitating DDC members had already threatened to go for protests but the timely intervention by the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha who not only met them but also assured them that their grievances would be taken care of, made the members wait.
DDC chairperson is now equailant to a mayor and his deputy is equivalent to divisional commissioner. In the earlier order issued in March 2021, the government had placed the DDC chairpersons equal to administrative secretaries at serial number 26. The deputy chairpersons had been placed at number 27, with protocol equivalent to vice-chancellors of universities. And the members figured at serial number 28 and had been given protocol equivalent to the block development council chairpersons or presidents of the municipal council.
After the order, the DDC members of BJP, NC, PDP, CPI(M), Congress, PC, and other parties on March 9 staged a protest at the convention centre Jammu against the warrant of precedence. They were seeking cabinet minister’s rank for the DDC chairpersons and for DDC members to that of ministers and the MLAs.
Now the government has amended the earlier order and has tried to redress the grievances of DDC members and if all goes well, it would be a good beginning for the DDC councils to start work and make the villages to have their own blueprints for the development.
