JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, today reviewed the progress of all the schemes implemented here by the Rural Development Department (RDD) for welfare and upliftment of rural masses throughout J&K.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, RDD; DG, Budget; Director, RDD Kashmir/Jammu; MD, NRLM; Director, Rural Sanitation; COO, Himayat; Director Finance, RDD; Director, IWMP; Director, Social Audit, RDD; Chief Engineer, REW and other concerned officers of the Department through in person or virtually.
Dr Mehta enquired from the officers about the progress made in each scheme so far. He impressed upon them to accelerate the work so that the targets fixed are met without any fail, especially in terms of person-days in MGNREGA. He directed for clearing all the pending liabilities regarding the material bills in MGNREGA and seeking the rest of the designated funds after utilizing those available with the department.
He enjoined upon the officers to create durable assets under MGNREGA and look after the priorities in each village with respect to the creation of amenities there. He directed for completion of the highest number of works under MGNREGA this year. He advised them to carry out the social audit of every work and compare with other States/UTs and take appropriate measures to address those issues pointed out by the audit.
The Chief Secretary observed that the role of the department is pivotal in terms of changing the face of J&K being responsible for looking after our rural areas. He maintained that the department is predominantly responsible for the development, cleanliness, and employment generation in these areas. He said that the performance of the department directly impacts the pace of development in our villages. He made out that the villages are the mirrors to reflect the success of this department.
He also made appraisal of the infrastructure created by the department to support rural institutions. He directed creating Panchayat Ghar in each GP and creating model Panchayats out of each Panchayat in the UT. He also directed for holding the monthly convergence meetings in the Panchayats to ensure that the process of development is not hindered there for any reason.
Regarding the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)Grameen, the Chief Secretary made it clear that all the villages should look clean in all respects before Independence Day this year. He directed for creating of the necessary infrastructure as envisaged in the mission in each village or cluster of villages taken together. He laid emphasis on the efficient door-to-door collection of waste and clearing of legacy waste in each village besides the progress made in the construction of Soak pits, Composit pits, Twin pits, or grey water treatment in the villages.
Commissioner Secretary, RDD, Mandeep Kaur in her presentation made during the meeting revealed that the department has made strides in all aspects of rural development and sanitation. She said that the Department has succeeded in generating 2.08 Cr person days of work under MGNREGA thereby completing 69608 works registering an expenditure of nearly Rs 705.07 Cr so far.
She further apprised the meeting that a total of 83246 works have been completed last Financial Year. The majority of works (21892 works) are on Rural connectivity, 20317 works on individual land (Category IV), 11848 works on Flood Control and Protection, 11534 works on Land Development, 9366 works on Micro Irrigation. This is the largest number of works that the UT has completed in any Financial Year.
Regarding Amrit Sarovar J&K has completed 2417 Amrit Sarovar’s as on date. The UT will complete 3000 Amritserovar well before August 2023, as was informed in the meeting. Soak pits and compost pits are being made in the homes of all active job card (1058000) holders and 267967 Soak pits and 54317 Compost Pits had been completed all over J&K.
Regarding the carrying of Social Audit it was given out that 250 SHGs have been trained for its conduct. Besides the services of VRPs, POs and Agriculture officers in certain areas have also been utilized for the conduct of the audit. It was further revealed that among 2021 GPs around 8,44,173 FM had been recovered after conducting this audit. It was added that a total of 11,40,604 FM had been recovered till date after conducting a social audit of the works taken up under the MGNREGA scheme.
The meeting was informed that under PMAY (G) a total of 114661 houses has been constructed in the UT in SECC and Non-SECC categories. Moreover, in favour of 192156 households, the first instalment has been released under this scheme. In addition Formation of District Sanitation committees has been framed and Door to Door collection started in all the districts of the UT.
Moreover, it was informed that under SBM, Solid Waste Management plans for each district has been finalized along with bye-laws. Moreover sanitation assets like segregation sheds, Gobardhan sites are developed across the districts of the UT. A total of 4114 villages have been declared as ODF+in Aspiring, Rising, and Model categories in all the districts of J&K, the meeting was informed.
