PULWAMA: Union Minister of State for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma today visited Panchayat Halqa Chersoo Awantipora Pulwama on the second day of Back to Village 4 programme to participate in Gram Sabha.
The minister inaugurated a volleyball match and held interaction with the students of the Government Higher Secondary School Chersoo.
The minister held a brief meeting with locals of Panchayat Halqa Cheroo and listened to the issues in presence of visiting officers including CEO Tourism Phalgam Development Authority Masrat Hashmi, Additional Secretary Agriculture Production Suhail Muzaffer, District Development Commissioner Baseer ul Haq Chowadry, SDM Awantipora M. Zaffar Shawl and SSP Awantipora Mohd Yousuf and other district officers.
DDC member Avtar Singh, Sarpanch of the Halqa, PRIs, Civil Society members, and Prominent citizens of the area apprised the minister regarding the issues and problems faced and also put forth some demands regarding various developmental issues including a special package for the bat manufacturing unit holders, improvement of the playfield, construction of the bridge, Electric Transformers, HT, LT line improvement, Health sub-center, Anganwadi centres, macadamisation of interior roads, flood protection bund, among others.
While responding to the demands of the people Banu Pratap Singh Verma said that the Government is committed to providing good governance at their doorsteps and organising such programmes is to get feedback from the common masses about the government-sponsored schemes.
He asked Deputy Commissioner Pulwama to mobilise the officers for preparation of the DPR’s pertaining to different public issues raised by the people.
The minister said that Nation can flourish in every field only when our children are educated and it is our duty to give better education to the children. He said after the 2019 election the pace of developmental activities has accelerated and various state of art projects have been taken up in the Union territory of J&K.
To curb hindrances and corruption, MoS said that PM in 2015 announced the opening of Jhan Dhan Yojna accounts so that the amount under various welfare schemes would be transferred directly into the account of people through DBT mode.
The minister disclosed that there are a spectrum of schemes under MSME to facilitate the unemployed youth to set up their own income generation units for which subsidy is also provided under various schemes. He urged the youth to avail the benefits of various Government schemes to become job providers rather than job seekers.
On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner Baseer ul Haq Chowdary highlighted the importance and role of Gram Sabhas adding that this gives an appropriate platform to all stakeholders to share their views and experiences regarding the growth and development of their respective areas.
He urged people to work for the strengthening of the panchayat raj institutions so that better plans of developmental works will be available with the administration as 70% of funds are utilised through panchayats. He also announced that a mega job mela will be organised in the coming days so that unemployed youth can get all facilities under one roof.
Later, the Minster inspected Bat manufacturing units and held an interaction with the unit holders who apprised the MoS about different problems faced by them. He also inspected ongoing work on the water supply scheme at Larmu Awantipora.
The minister also visited Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute Pampore where he interacted with the staff and researchers. He was apprised that the Central Silk Board (CSB) has set up the Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute (CSR&TI) at Pampore to revive earlier activities of the CSB in J&K. The institute is actively involved in Research & Development and human resource development.
The Minister also visited Spice Park at Dussu, Pampore and reviewed the initiatives taken for economic revival of J&K Saffron under the National Mission on Saffron. He also inspected the various sections and installed machinery at the stigma separation unit, Quality evaluation laboratory, packing unit, drying unit, and cold storage room. He also interacted with saffron growers and listened to their issues and demands.
Meanwhile, similar functions were also held at all the other panchayat halqas of the district while designated officers listened to the grievances of the people and assured them to bring their issues to higher-ups for early redressal.
