Kishtwar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chaired the District Development review meeting in Kishtwar W3ednesday and also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 56.03 crores, an official press release informed.
The LG also said the rate of completion of infrastructure projects, especially road, health, education, agriculture, power, telecom facilities, has been speeded up.
“Our focus is on the economic connectivity of Kishtwar and reducing the rural and urban divide. Best of health, education facilities & equitable distribution and access to infrastructure will lead to sustained development and greater employment opportunities,” the LG observed.
The three mega projects worth Rs 20.48 cr inaugurated by the LG today included two PMDP projects – Rs 12 cr worth 25 bedded Sub-District Hospital at Atholi Padder and a new receiving station 33/11KV at Hatta costing Rs 4.31 cr, besides 70R double-lane steel truss bridge over river Chenab at Bhandarkoot under CSS build at the cost of Rs 4.17 cr.
The LG laid foundation stone for projects costing Rs 35.55 cr including two education sector projects- construction of additional accommodations at GHSS Palmar and GHS Drubeel at a cost of Rs 2.53 cr and Rs 1.20 cr respectively; 15 water supply schemes (WSS) under Jal Jeevan Mission worth Rs 31.33 cr and sports stadium Palmar stage-l costing Rs 50 lakh, the press release informed.
While examining the progress of mega development projects and saturation of UT and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), the LG directed the executing agencies to ensure timely completion of the projects and urgent resolution of the bottlenecks, if any.
The LG stressed upon officials for developing robust mechanisms for prompt redressal of public grievances and saturation of schemes for welfare of women, artisans, farmers and youth.
The LG was appraised about the progress made under various sectors including District Capex, Education, Health, Rural Development, Road, Tourism Jal Jeevan Mission, NABARD, SBM, PMAY-G, Awaas plus, Agriculture, Horticulture & allied sectors.
Emphasizing on creating self-employment opportunities for the local youth, the LG directed the District Employment officer to connect the unemployed eligible youths with various self-employment and entrepreneurship schemes rolled out by the Union and UT governments.
The LG called for tapping the huge growth potential of the district in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & allied sectors by way of effective implementation and awareness of all the related schemes.
“Agencies should work in a cohesive manner to achieve the goal of enhancing the farmers’ income and increasing the farm productions by introducing modern techniques and innovations,” the LG added.
District officials were directed to work in coordination with SKUAST, Directorate of Agriculture Department & Department of Industries to ensure GI tagging of local products like Kishtwari saffron and Rajmash on priority.
Stressing the need to intensify campaigns against drug-addiction across the district, the LG directed the police and civil administration for crackdown on drug dealers, peddlers, and roping in representatives of PRIs and the educational institutions for Drug-free Kishtwar Abhiyan.
The LG instructed the officials to give special thrust for enhancing transparency and accountability in the working of the administration, besides streamlining the online services and ensuring door-step delivery of public services. He further passed explicit directions for completion of 79 Amrit Sarovar projects before 2nd October 2022.
Dr Devansh Yadav, Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar briefed the LG on the development scenario of the district and the efforts of the District Administration to ensure timely completion of the projects and reaching out to the beneficiaries under various government welfare schemes.
On the occasion, the LG felicitated the winners of National Anthem singing competition 2022 round-2 under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. He also felicitated the home stay owners for taking novel initiative and boosting the tourism in the region.
The LG flagged off the Nasha Mukt Express from DC office complex Kishtwar to spread Awareness against Drug menace under Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan in the district.
Motorised tricycles to 10 Specially-Abled persons and keys of commercial vehicles to seven beneficiaries under Mumkin scheme of Mission Youth J&K were handed over by the LG, the press release informed.
The LG also inaugurated Hindi Pakhwada Exhibition, organized by NHPC Dulhasti Power Project on the occasion of Hindi Diwas.
LG reviews progress of Hydroelectric Power Projects
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha during his visit to Kishtwar, chaired a meeting with the senior officials of Hydroelectric Power Projects (HEP).
An official spokesman said that LG directed the HEP authorities and executing agencies for completion of the projects having National importance within a given deadline.
The Lt Governor stressed upon employment of locals in these projects and directed the authorities to enhance the skill of local youth through Skill Development/Enhancement Programme so they can be absorbed in the ongoing projects, said the spokesman.
During the meeting, the authorities also apprised the Lt Governor about various bottlenecks in the smooth functioning of projects.
The Lt Governor directed the District Administration to ensure hassle-free working in ongoing power projects in the district.
Earlier, the Lt Governor interacted with various public delegations of Kishtwar. As many as 15 delegations of Kishtwar District including PRI representatives, socio-religious organisations, political parties, and civil society members apprised LG of various aspirational needs and other issues related to the development projects, said the spokesman.
The Lt Governor assured the delegations that all their concerns would be looked into meticulously for the early redressal, the spokesman further said.
He said that during his interaction with the delegation of PRI members, the Lt Governor urged them to act as a bridge between people and administration in the grievance redressal mechanism and ensuring 100% saturation of welfare schemes.
