Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Feb 24: Farooq Khan, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor today met the Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu here at the Raj Bhavan.
The Lt Governor and the Advisor discussed wide ranging issues of urgent administrative importance. The Advisor also briefed the Lt Governor about the functioning of the Departments under his responsibility.
They further discussed about various issues relating to the developmental scenario of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor stressed on the vital importance of responsive and accountable administrative machinery working efficiently towards discharge of its duties.
A delegation of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service Officers’ (KAS) Association also called on the Lieutenant Governor and raised their issues.
The delegation led by its President Tassaduq Hussain Mir put forth various demands pertaining to the consideration for placement of KAS Officers in Time Scale by utilizing the available vacancies. They sought Lt Governor’s intervention for utilization of all vacancies for accommodating maximum number of officers by widening the scope of promotion vacancies and resolving the issues of stagnation of around 700 Junior Scale KAS officers recruited since 2011.
Meanwhile, Ashwani Kumar Sharma, ex-MLA also called on the Lt Governor and apprised him about various issues of public importance and Dr Tahir Chowdhary, Spokesperson, BJP submitted representation pertaining to the issues of health care sector in J&K including establishment of Primary Health Centres with all essential health services; posting of specialist Doctors in Super Specialty Hospital in Jammu; improving patient care etc.
A delegation of residents of Rajouri led by Ali Mohammed, Sarpanch submitted a memorandum of demands pertaining to various measures for welfare of tribal communities including demand for special recruitment package for Gujjar and Bakerwals, improvement of health infrastructure in tribal areas, development of potential tribal tourist areas, establishment of Tribal University at Rajouri and Poonch, restoration of mobile schools for nomadic population etc
The Lt Governor interacted with the members of the delegations and individuals who apprised him of their issues and assured them to review the genuine issues and demands raised by them for their early redressal.
Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Vice-Chancellor, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) also called on the Lieutenant Governor.
Prof. Ahmed apprised the Lt Governor about various issues of academic and administrative importance relating to the Main and Off-site campuses.
The Lt Governor emphasized the high importance of continuous up gradation of teaching methods and maintaining high standards of academic excellence for achieving tangible outcomes in all the areas.
Dr Kuldeep Singh, Director, ICAR- National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi met the Lt Governor and briefed him about the working of the ICAR-NBPGR and also informed him about its new initiatives.
The Lt Governor appreciated the work done by the ICAR-NBPGR at both national and international arena and urged him to continue working as a nodal organization for the management of plant genetic resources in India.
P Balachandran, Chief General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), J&K Regional Office briefed the Lt Governor about the functioning of the bank in providing financial support in Agriculture and allied activities. He further briefed him about the role being played the NABARD in many development projects across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor urged Balachandran to make all the innovative interventions necessary for promoting sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development for securing rural prosperity.