JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, today held a marathon live interaction with the visiting officers (Prabharis), Presidents, and representatives of different Municipal Wards and Councils of Jammu division under ‘My Town My Pride’ (MTMP) Programme at Civil Secretariat here.
During the interaction, the Chief Secretary held detailed deliberations on different deliverables with the officers and took on spot assessment from them about the participation of the general public in the MTMP. While interacting with the officers and representatives of Municipal Wards, the Chief Secretary impressed upon them to encourage maximum participation of the general public in the programme so that the prime objective of this festival of development is achieved. He asked them to involve educational institutions in the celebrations of MTMP and organise events under this programme so that a much larger awareness is generated among the public about different government beneficiary schemes.
Dr. Mehta enjoined upon the officers to involve common masses in the MTMP activities and hold events of such nature that create interest and enthusiasm among the public. “People first” is a basic policy of the J&K Government and we must serve people as per their needs,” Dr. Mehta observed.
While interacting with visiting officer of Udhampur district (Principal Secretary, School Education Department), Alok Kumar, the Chief Secretary asked him to involve the local public as well as municipal council representatives in the completion of the prestigious Devika project. He further asked him to take action against officers as well as contractors who are hampering the execution of this project.
Similarly, interacting with visiting officer for Jammu district Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department, the Chief Secretary asked him to keep a complete tab on all the ongoing works in the district so that Jammu City is made one of the cleanest and most vibrant cities of the country. He highlighted that Jammu city has a lot of potential as a tourist destination and we must channel our resources to make it one of the finest attractions in the country.
The Chief Secretary further asked the visiting officers of Jammu district to involve all wards of Jammu Municipal Corporation in the celebrations of MTMP besides educational institutions, in order to generate awareness among the public about beneficiary-oriented schemes.
Likewise, interacting with visiting officer Ramban district (Commissioner Secretary, Forest, Ecology, and Environment), Sanjeev Verma, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the officer to involve locals and other public representatives for developing Ramban as a tourist place owing to its significance due to NH-44. He asked the officers to make it such an attraction that people stay there purposely.
Dr. Mehta while delving on different aspects of MTMP, impressed upon the officers to saturate the different beneficiary-oriented schemes among the public besides the young generation should be made aware of different self-employment schemes like Mumkin, and Tejaswani, among others.
Highlighting that digitisation of services is vital for better public service delivery, Dr. Mehta impressed upon the officers that people should be made aware of online services. He underlined that any service offered through offline mode is a source of corruption and therefore we should sensitize the public about using only online mode to receive benefits of government schemes.
During the interaction, the Chief Secretary also held deliberations with visiting officers of Khour, Bishnah, Bhaderwah, Bhakshi Nagar, Bari Brahmna, and other municipal wards and councils of the Jammu division.
