Jammu: “Public participation brings efficiency, transparency and social justice in governance. Back to Village is the reflection of our commitment to empower the rural community and strengthen partnership for holistic development.”
This is what Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said in this month’s ‘Awaam Ki Awaaz’ programme, as he shared the achievements of recently concluded Back to Village-4 programme, reforms in agriculture and allied sectors and inspirational stories of young and promising entrepreneurs of Jammu Kashmir.
“Through Back to Village (B2V) , it is our endeavor to develop a well-planned, comprehensive model of rural development and Panchayats to realize the vision of Aatma Nirbhar Jammu & Kashmir,” he observed.
Listing the achievements of the B2V- 4 programme, the LG observed that every individual has a significant role to play in taking the government’s developmental efforts to the grassroots and this year’s unprecedented participation of the common man in the B2V programme has enabled the administration to successfully saturate 54 deliverables of 21 departments.
According to an official press release4, he said around 96,000 Sehat Golden Cards were issued to provide health security benefits to 49,526 families; 5,914 Kisan Credit Cards were issued under the Jan Abhiyaan, and now the total number of Kisan Credit Card holders in the Union Territory has reached 12.84 lakhs. As many as 277 new cooperative societies were registered and training was provided to 31,578 cooperative members. The ‘Aapki Zameen Aapki Nigrani’ portal launched for the empowerment of land owners was accessed by nearly nine lakh people and more than seven lakh land passbooks were distributed.
An important task during the B2V programme was to identify and re-enroll dropout children in schools. More than 40,000 children have been identified and their admission in schools has been ensured. 211 camps were organized to ensure uninterrupted access to all facilities to the Divyangjan and 3205 Senior Citizen Clubs have been established, the press release informed.
It said more than one lakh students participated in the Swachh Abhiyan under the ‘My School My Pride’ program and the Social Welfare department included the left-out beneficiaries under various welfare schemes.
“We have emphasized IT intervention to eliminate human interface under Jan Abhiyaan and citizens have been given information about 225 online services in all panchayats,” the LG informed.
“Promoting inclusive growth and creating employment opportunities in the agriculture and allied sectors is our priority. Jan Abhiyan has brought together experts and farmers on a common platform to speed up the pace of development in this sector,” the LG said.
‘Adapt to Grow’ is the new mantra for the agriculture sector, he said.
“The efforts of the progressive farmers of J&K like Baldev Raj from Simblawali village, Samba for promoting diversification in agriculture to improve agricultural productivity and boost sustainable growth are praiseworthy. Baldev Raj’s decision for crop diversification proved to be extremely beneficial to his family and his experience is encouraging others to switch to high-value crops,” the LG added.
Sharing the inspirational stories of young and promising entrepreneurs from across the UT, the LG called upon the youth, especially the womenfolk of J&K to draw inspiration from Pulwama’s Hina Parray, Ridhima Arora, from Jammu and J&K’s first women e-rickshaw driver, Seema Devi.
“Determination, passion and self-confidence to face new challenges are significant to fulfill dreams and life’s objectives. Hina Parray’s entrepreneurial journey is an inspiration for budding entrepreneurs,” the LG said.
“Seema Devi from Nagrota is the epitome of women empowerment. As J&K’s first women e-rickshaw driver, Seema Devi is setting examples for others.
“Ridhima Arora is one of J&K’s most promising young entrepreneurs. With passion, grit, innovation and ingenuity she has built her Startup that is making a difference in people’s lives. She is a true inspiration for young entrepreneurs in India,” the LG added.
He also mentioned Kashmir’s Sami-ullah who has started a door-to-door delivery start-up delivering products from Jammu and Kashmir to other states and countries and is working with around 1200 MSMEs.
“We are creating an enabling environment to harness the potential of the youth of J&K. Today our youth are being provided with all the resources and necessary handholding to fulfill their aspirations and convert ideas into business ventures,” said the LG.
The LG also shared suggestions received from Bandipora’s Mudasser Nazir Wani, Dilshad Matoo from Kishtwar, Pulwama’s Saima Zargar, Ratan Prabha and Vijay Sharma from Jammu and Harjot Singh from Kathua pertaining to online dashboard for pension beneficiaries of Panchayats, pharmacy-related policy reforms and new initiatives, Mid-Day meals in schools, for creating a Resource Center in the Tourism department to accelerate the development of identified tourist destinations and seeking fortnightly status report from the field officers on the applications received on Kashmir Migrant portal.
The LG passed explicit directions to the concerned departments to take appropriate actions on the suggestions and inputs received from various quarters, the press release said.
