BANDIPORA: Secretary of Tourism and Culture, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, on Tuesday, presided over a Public Darbar cum Grievance Redressal Camp here at Sumbal and took stock of grievances and demands of people.
Chairman District Development Council Bandipora, Abdul Gani Bhat; DDC members, ADDC, Mohammad Ashraf Hakak, ADC, Umar Shafi, ACR Bandipora Shabir Ahmad, JD Planning, Imtiyaz Ahmad besides representatives of various delegations were present on the occasion.
The secretary was briefed regarding the overall developmental scenario of the district.
The public darbar witnessed an overwhelming response from all sections of the society where people apprised Dr Abid of issues being faced by them, seeking intervention in redressing the same.
DDC Chairman submitted a memorandum of demands including an additional fire service station in the area, power supply, healthcare, education, utilization of leftover funds from Capex for meeting out the contingencies caused by calamities and disasters, etc.
The DDC delegation also demanded the inclusion of some potential areas of Sumbal and Hajin on the tourism map.
The DDC and BDC members put forth the issues concerning their respective areas like road connectivity, devising of robust mechanisms for flood-prone and affected areas near water bodies, land for landless families, filling of vacant posts, demands for blood bank in CHC Sumbal, early completion of College building in Hajin.
Dr Ghulam Mustafa projected the demand for railway connectivity to the district besides the posting of a surgeon specialist at DH Bandipora during night hours.
While responding to the demands of bringing some areas of the division on the tourism map, the Secretary assured early redressal in the matter.
Dr Abid urged upon the locals to develop homestays for the tourists so that employment generation is ensured within the region.
Similarly, a delegation of Sarpanchs also presented their issues and demands, including augmentation of staff in panchayats, especially VLWs, technical staff besides JEs.
Secretary Tourism, while interacting with line departments, called for adopting a time-bound redressal/execution mechanism in resolving the issues of public importance by making optimum utilization of resources.
While responding to the issue of the water crisis at Inderkoot Sumbal, Dr Abid directed both departments to immediately resolve the issue of NOC for road cut for laying of pipes to resolve the water crisis in the area. He also asked for joint inspection by concerned departments for enhanced results.
The secretary also directed the SE PDD to ensure the completion of all formalities for the commissioning of the receiving station at Sumbal within 15 days so that the power supply in the area is augmented.
Dr Abid, while addressing the gathering, said that their demands shall be brought to the notice of concerned departments and assured them of proper action and timely redressal of their grievances.
He said public darbar is a platform to obtain first-hand appraisal from the gross root level besides reducing the communication gap between the public and the administration.
The Secretary of Tourism praised the efforts of all the stakeholders for overall development in the district and called upon them to continue to pursue LG’s cherished goal of good governance in the UT.
