Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 7: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday advocated strict action against officials failing to solve public grievances, an official spokesperson said.
Sinha participated in ''block diwas'' in Hiranagar in Kathua district ''Block Diwas'', a grassroots level democratic outreach initiative organised by the administration, as part of efforts to promote good governance.
He took firsthand appraisal and reviewed the effectiveness of the ‘block diwas'' platform in redressal of public grievances, and also assessed the on-ground coverage under various government services and welfare schemes being provided to the people, the spokesperson said.
According to the official, the visit proved to be yet another milestone in augmenting water supply in the region with the Lt Governor e-inaugurating four water supply schemes worth Rs 7.52 crore, besides other developmental projects costing Rs 90 lakhs.
Sinha inspected the stalls displayed by various departments, and enquired about the grievances received and the measures taken by the respective departments for redressal of the same, the official said.
Speaking on the significance of block diwas, the Lt Governor observed that the aim of the initiative is to address the day to day grievances and issues of the people by making the public welfare services of various departments available at one place.
Sinha asked the concerned officers to be well versed with all the welfare schemes and put in their best efforts to mitigate the problems of people, and be sensitive to their issues.
“Strict action shall be taken against officials not attending to public grievances,” he asserted.
The Lt Governor said the administration is putting untiring efforts to remove all difficulties and making services and welfare schemes easily accessible to citizens.
“Government is working on the mission mode to ensure availability of basic necessities viz. roads, drinking water and electricity, to every citizen of the UT, besides working earnestly towards bringing substantial industrial investment, promotion of tourism and creating employment avenues for youth,” he said.
“We are committed to ensure 100 per cent saturation of all farmers'' welfare, social security and beneficiary oriented schemes so that the benefits of such schemes reach to every eligible beneficiary,” he said.
He said providing better livelihood to farmers by tapping the vast potential of the agriculture and horticulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir is the focused area of the government.
“The government is sensitive towards the issues of farmers and population living in border areas. Their issues would be resolved on priority,” he said.
He said various farm centric initiatives have been taken by the administration, several laws have been relaxed wherein farmers can now avail benefits from different government sponsored welfare schemes and programmes which were previously not available owing to restrictive enactments.
High density plantation is now a reality in Jammu region also, he said, adding now, any farmer can develop orchards and can go for high density plantation irrespective of their land holding.
He said youngsters would be given every possible assistance and handholding to become successful entrepreneurs. The Lt Governor said that a number of initiatives have been launched and many others are in the pipeline for the overall development in every village and block of the UT.
Referring to the release of 50 per cent revenue and capital outlay, the Lt Governor said that it is for the first time that funds have been released on the very first day of the financial year.
Emphasising on empowering and strengthening the grassroots democratic setup, the Lt Governor underscored that functions, functionaries, finance, and framework help operate a panchayat effectively.
“I assure that every panchayat will get Rs 1 crore for development purposes, which will be double from the previous allocation. All remaining panchayats will get panchayat bhavans at the earliest,” he said.
He said a provision of Rs 10 crore has been kept for every district development council, besides funds are being allocated to panchayats and blocks. |
