SRINAGR, JULY 2: Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam Tuesday chaired a marathon meeting to discuss the follow up action on the recently concluded ‘Back to Village’ Programme.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Planning Development & Monitoring Department, Commissioner/Secretary, Revenue, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir Commissioner/Secretary Labour & Employment, Secretary, Agriculture Production/Horticulture, Secretary, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, DC Srinagar, DC Samba and other senior officers from Civil Secretariat, Srinagar.
Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Ladakh besides Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of 20 districts participated via video conference.
Chief Secretary appreciated the cooperation of the people in the successful conduct of the ‘Back to Village’ Programme. He lauded the efforts of the DCs and the visiting officers in the entire programme. He referred to the Hon’ble Governor for having conveyed his deepest appreciation to all those who were part of this maiden initiative.
Chief Secretary urged DCs to upload the feedback/date sent by the officers deployed to the 4483 Panchayats and complete the process by July 12, 2019. He said once the data is uploaded, it will be analysed critically and issues prioritized for early resolution as far as possible. The initiative will be carried forward to strengthen the Panchayat Raj Institutions, he observed.
Chief Secretary also reviewed the district wise implementation status of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandaan (PM SYM) and various pension schemes.
It was informed that against the 14.7 Lakh farmer families in the state, a list of 10.5 Lakh beneficiaries has been uploaded on the PM KISAN Portal. Chief Secretary urged DCs to ensure that all beneficiaries are covered under the Programme and complete list of beneficiaries is uploaded by July, 27, 2019. Under PM KISAN landholding farmer families are being provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year. This income support is being transferred directly into their bank accounts in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each.
Regarding PM SYM, it was informed that the voluntary and contributory pension scheme is for the unorganized sector workers whose monthly income is Rs 15,000 per month or less and belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years. Each subscriber under the PM-SYM shall receive minimum assured pension of Rs 3000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years. The pension scheme will operate on 50:50 basis where prescribed age-specific contribution shall be made by the beneficiary and the matching contribution by the Central Government. The subscriber contribution ranges between Rs 55 and Rs 200 per month depending upon age.
Till date 60,000 un-organized workers have registered themselves under PM SYM in the state. Chief Secretary asked the Labour & Employment Department to generate awareness among the un-organized sector workers about the benefits of this scheme in terms of very low subscription, matching contribution and minimum assured pension of Rs 3000 in old age.
About the implementation of various pension schemes, Chief Secretary exhorted the DCs to ensure that no eligible beneficiary viz old aged, widow or differently-abled person is left out or denied the benefit of the pension schemes. He asked DCs to ensure that there is 100% Aadhaar seeding and the duly scrutinized beneficiary list is submitted to the Social Welfare Department by 31st July, 2019, without fail. He mentioned that the Government of India is likely to release funds to the state government to cover all eligible persons under the various social security schemes including National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS).
Regarding Rural Developmental Plans under MGNREGA and 14th Finance Commission (FC), Chief Secretary urged DCs to ensure that GPDP Plans are uploaded on the GPDP Portal and developmental activities fast tracked in every Halqa Panchayat.
DCs were asked to personally monitor the execution of projects under PMGSY to facilitate the completion of 5500 Km road length targeted this fiscal. Further, they were asked to clear the compensation of land owners and render the Red Account to the PW(R&B) Department so that the unspent amount if any can be put to use for completion of any balance works.
The three Divisional Commissioners were directed to monitor the timely procurement of snow clearing machines/cutters by their respective Districts. Chief Secretary directed the Divisional Commissioners to extend their outreach programmes so as to address the grievances of the public speedily.
