Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Social Welfare Department.
The meeting was attended by Santosh D Vaidya, Principal Secretary, Finance Department; Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Sheetal Nanda, Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare; Administrative Secretaries, Heads of Departments and senior officials.
The Lt Governor took appraisal of the saturation of social welfare schemes. He directed the officials to make dedicated efforts to ensure 100% Aadhaar seeding of the beneficiaries under various schemes.
While reviewing the performance of Poshan Abhiyaan, the Lt Governor directed to conduct a study to assess the impact of the scheme on the ground.
He also reviewed the performance of Anganwadi Centres and directed the officers to ensure that all Anganwadi Centres are fully functional with all the facilities in place.
The Lt Governor emphasized the role of Anganwadi Centres as a hub for health, nutrition, early learning, responsive care, security and safety of children. He said the effective and efficient functioning of Anganwadi Centres is key to child development.
He also observed that villages and cities should be made malnutrition and anaemia free and to also focus on aadhaar seeding on Poshan tracker and widening the scope of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Asserting that Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada are two important components of Poshan Abhiyaan, the Lt Governor said that there is a need to further increase the IEC activities so that benefits reach all intended beneficiaries. He said the administration’s focus should be on socially, educationally and economically marginalized sections of the society, empowerment of women and also discussed steps required to create an environment so they can realise their full potential.
The meeting further reviewed the performance of Nanhe Kadam, women assisted under Sankalp, One Stop Centre. He also called for collective efforts in the fight against drug menace.
Meanwhile, LG also reviewed the functioning of Department of Culture and discussed the matters related to promotion of glorious culture and heritage of J&K UT and took stock of the measures taken for protection and preservation of cultural heritage.
The Lt Governor emphasised on protection and promotion of diversity of architectural expressions and suggested improvement in existing policy framework.
He also enquired about the response of public towards the libraries established by the department. He took note of the facilities extended to book lovers and called for broader outreach to younger generations through digital platforms.
The meeting discussed various other issues related to the promotion and popularization of Museums and the digitization of archival material in possession of the department. The Lt Governor called for extending all the necessary facilities to the visitors at museums and libraries for elevated intellectual and cultural experiences.
Santosh D Vaidya, Principal Secretary, Finance Department; Dr. Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Suresh Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary, Culture department; HoDs and concerned senior officials attended the meeting.
