Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today met Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh and discussed with him important issues related to PMGSY for strengthening rural connectivity in J&K and various initiatives taken by the UT government to improve quality of life in rural areas.
The meeting went fruitful and the Union Minister has assured full support to the UT government in its endeavours for the development and prosperity of rural J&K, an official press release issued here said.
It said the LG and the Union minister also discussed about the empowerment of three-tier Panchayati Raj system in J&K, “which has strengthened the governance at the grass-root level”.
The LG further shared the various reformative measures taken by the UT government to bridge the gap between rural and urban J&K.
“J&K is amongst the top performers in terms of achievements made under PMGSY. We are reaching out to unconnected habitations with road connectivity, besides augmenting the power and water supply to connect every household in the rural areas,” said the LG.
The UT government has already approved Rs 12,600 Crore District Capex Budget 2021-22 for equitable development of J&K with active involvement of Panchayats, BDCs, and DDCs. Moreover, new opportunities are being created for rural employment; digital interventions have been made by establishing Digital Village Centres to bring the working of the PRI institutions close to the Government’s functioning. Panchayat offices are being digitally integrated with higher offices for extension of government services to rural population, he informed.
Recently, an e-Compendium of 2177 projects completed under ‘Back to Village’ programme during 2020-21 was released which depicts the success of the ambitious initiative of the J&K government, he added.
Discussion was also held on the UT government’s action plan for creating more livelihood opportunities for the rural population, besides extending the financial assistance to 50,000 youth as per the target set by the Government for this year’s Back to Village program. Pertinently, during the B2V3, around 20,000 young budding entrepreneurs have been empowered financially to start their own enterprise, the press release informed.
It said the meeting was also attended by senior officials of Ministry of Rural Development.
Meanwhile, LG also met Union Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Sinha shared with Pradhan various initiatives taken by the J&K government for implementation of National Education Policy-2020, besides strengthening industry-academia partnerships, setting up CIIIT Centres, skill development of students at higher secondary level and catalyzing quality academic research in all fields, the press release said.
It said the LG informed him that the J&K government has initiated a UT-wide campaign to lay a strong foundation for transforming the education system by revising and revamping various aspects of the education structure to meet the aspirational goals envisioned under NEP-2020.
“Holistic and multidisciplinary education; optimal learning environment and support for students; competency-based learning; regular training of teachers; students’ feedback system; promotion of languages, art and culture are now the integral part of the reforms being taken by the government for improving the quality of education and enhancing learning outcomes,” said the LG.
“J&K government is focusing more on re-skilling and up-skilling of youth for their all-round development. Working in this direction, we are planning to set up more Centres for Invention, Innovation, Incubation, and Training (CIIITs) across the UT. The government has set the target to impart skill training to 5000 students in various degree colleges in 25 different courses,” the LG said.
“We are also giving the much-needed impetus to bridge the social and gender gaps in school education by ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels for improving the literacy rate of the UT of J&K,” added the LG
“A robust mechanism has been laid down for ensuring that the benefits under Prime Minister’s ‘PM CARES for Children’ and J&K government’s ‘SASCM’ scheme, reached every child affected due to Covid pandemic,” informed the LG.
The press release said that discussions were also held on the inclusion of foundational literacy and numeracy, critical life skills, vocational skills development, basic education and continuing education in the educational framework.
