JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, today impressed upon all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to decide for themselves what they aspire to be known for during the soon-to-be-held phase 2 of the ‘My Town My Pride (MTMP)’ programme.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, H&UD; Divisional Commissioners; Secretary, PD&MD; Secretary, GAD; Deputy Commissioners; SSPs, Director, Local Bodies, Jammu/Kashmir and many other concerned officers.
Dr Mehta urged the officers to work with the same zeal during this urban outreach programme like they performed during the recently concluded phase 4 of the Back to Village programme. He asked them to fix the deliverables to be achieved during this programme on similar lines of B2V. He remarked that this connection of officers with the people should be regular and continuous round the year. These Visiting Officers would be made the ‘Town Prabharies’ like the ones designated as ‘Panchayat Prabharies’ during B2V4, he maintained.
The Chief Secretary also emphasized on the fact that an appropriate number of visiting officers be deputed to each town after considering the recommendations from Deputy Commissioners. He made out that the objective of this outreach programme is to connect with people and each one ready to give his/her viewpoint should get an opportunity to do so.
He also stressed on making our towns clean and litter free. He stated that the towns are the face of any region and build the narrative about it. He said that cleanliness can be achieved through our collective efforts. He asked them to work for 100% penetration of digital services in all the ULBs and besides Mukt and Brashtachar Mukt J&K during this programme.
Dr Mehta also laid emphasis on improving the services provided to people. He strongly recommended saturating the CSS and Self Employment Schemes in these areas. He gave out that it is the programme of every Municipality and a specific city plan for each of them should be formulated at the end of this public outreach campaign. He asked the department to make a city development index so that it acts as a yardstick for each of them to prioritize their preferences.
The Principal Secretary Housing & Urban Development Department, Dheeraj Gupta gave a broad picture of the activities and objectives of this phase of the My Town My Pride programme. He revealed that the Visiting Officers are going to be in the towns for 2 days. He also informed that before it a week-long Jan Abhiyan for awareness of the masses is to be conducted in all the 78 ULBs including the 2 Municipal Corporations as part of this outreach programme.
