Keeping in view the recent killings of local body members by terrorists, the J&K union territory (UT) administrative council (AC) on Saturday approved life insurance cover of Rs.25 lakh for each one of the elected members of such bodies.
An official spokesman said that the AC, which met in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, GC Murmu, approved life insurance cover of Rs. 25 lakhs to all elected block development committe chairmen, sarpanches, panches and all elected members of municipal bodies in Jammu and Kashmir in case of death due to a militancy related incident.
The decision aims at strengthening grass roots democracy by providing a sense of security to the elected members of local bodies who are under constant threat from terrorists.
The life insurance cover will act as a guarantee for the subsistence of the family members of the elected representatives who die in militancy related incidents. It will ensure that their families do not face economic distress and poverty in case of any untoward incident and continue to fulfil basic needs of nutrition, education and health in adverse circumstances, the spokesman said.
The AC also approved allotment and transfer of a piece of land up to 13 kanals to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), at village Majeen Sidhra in Jammu, for construction of office building and residential complex.
The said parcel of land will be allotted to NCB on lease basis for 40 years. This will facilitate setting up of an independent NCB Zonal Headquarter and assist in effective control of Narco-terror related activities in the region.