Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said those opposing the “land-to-landless policy” initiated by his administration were responsible for the death of 50,000 innocent people over the past three decades in the Union Territory.
Sinha said under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, nearly two lakh houses have been sanctioned for Jammu and Kashmir but many of these beneficiaries did not have any land to construct houses.
“A decision was made to give land to those who are eligible under the scheme as per the 2011 Census. However, when poor people get land and houses, distress is a common reaction of some people,” Sinha said at the three-day ‘National Thematic Workshop on Localisation of (LSDGs) Sustainable Development Goals in Panchayats’ here.
He said some leaders made statements that non-locals have been given land.
“I just want to ask members of panchayats who are here that just give me the name of even a single non-local person who has been given land. Those who are making such statements because of them 50,000 innocent people have been killed,” Sinha said.
The LG highlighted the “changes” that have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir over the past four years.
“People ask what has changed? Street violence has been completely wiped off. Shops, schools and colleges are not closed due to anyone’s dictatorship. People did not believe that they would come back to their home lives at the end of the day, this was the situation here. But today restaurants are open till 10 pm and we can see young people enjoying themselves near Dal Lake. These are the changes,” he said.
Welcoming the representatives of Panchayats, stakeholders and domain experts from across the country to Jammu and Kashmir, Sinha according to an official press release said deliberations on exemplary strategies, convergent actions and best practices aligned with localisation of Sustainable Development Goals over the three days will make the governance at Panchayat level more effective and efficient.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has given us a vision of ‘Gram Uday se Bharat Uday’ and it should be our sincere efforts to realise the limitless potential and possibilities of rural areas, to change the destiny of the country,” the LG said.
“Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved through transforming the villages and making them Aatma-Nirbhar. It is our firm resolve to make the PRIs empowered, stronger and ensure their increased participation in development initiatives,” the LG said.
We are making endeavours to transform Panchayats into the centers of economic activities and prosperity, he said.
The development projects are being taken as per the needs of the people and completed at a faster pace. Infrastructure development is bridging the gap between rural and urban J&K and timely completion of projects shows our rural society is becoming prosperous and growth is inclusive and sustainable, the LG added.
The LG also appealed to the people and all the stakeholder departments to work together on Panchayat-level indicators for good governance. He said the government is ensuring necessary resources as well as giving Panchayats the responsibility of implementation to strengthen the solid foundation of inclusive development.
The LG reiterated the commitment of the UT administration towards the welfare of the last man in the queue and improving the standard of living of the rural population.
“We are working together to take necessary steps for effective and seamless public service delivery as well as benefits of government schemes and programmes to fulfill the aspirations of all the villages,” he said.
Self-employment schemes and Self Help Groups founded and run by rural women have immense potential for making rural society self-reliant and to increase household incomes by creating more opportunities for employment and self-employment at the grassroots level, the LG said.
Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Patil said good governance has been started in Jammu and Kashmir under the guidance of Sinha.
Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh, joined the conference virtually, and commended the UT administration for its efforts in strengthening the three-tier Panchayati Raj System in J&K, an official press release said.
“Meri Panchayat App”- an integrated and unified m-governance platform was also launched on the occasion.
Singh said initiatives like “Meri Panchayat” App are the new form of good governance and digital India to empower rural India.
The occasion also marked the release of Operating Guidelines of National Capability Building Framework for PRIs, and Service level Benchmarks and Model Contracts for Gram Panchayats for Water Supply and Sanitation.
DDC Chairpersons; Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to LG; Sunil Kumar, Union Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Mandeep Kaur, Commissioner/Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and PRI members from J&K and across the country were present.
