CS reviews progress of ongoing VBSY with DCs, District Prabharis

* Reviews functioning of Education Deptt

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 9: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo today took first hand appraisal from the DCs and GoI appointed District Prabharis regarding the progress and participation of people in the ongoing nationwide Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY) in the UT here.
The meeting was also attended by Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles (UT Prabhari); Divisional Commissioner Kashmir/ Jammu; Secretary, Mining; Secretary, Planning; DG, Planning; DG, E&S; SIO besides others.
During this meeting, the Chief Secretary lauded the efforts of the Divisional and District administration for making this yatra successful till now. He impressed upon them to keep the momentum going and not let the enthusiasm of people down. He told them to make it vibrant by holding multiple activities at the venues.
He called upon the concerned district administrations to be prompt with updation of details in the portal. He even directed them to ensure that each activity envisaged under this yatra are practiced in each village and data fed into the portal. He asked for making the yatra interesting for all age groups including school children, women and old aged.
In his remarks the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI, Rohit Kansal, who is also UT Prabhari for J&K showed his satisfaction about the performance of J&K so far. He made out that the gap between the actual activities happening on ground and those uploaded on portal shall be lessened by making the exercise real time doing so on daily basis by each Deputy Commissioner.
Kansal also asked for participation of people especially school children in quizzes by simply scanning QR codes on the VBSY van. He even stressed on giving due attention towards highlighting the success stories during this yatra in both print and electronic media here.
In his presentation the Secretary, Planning, Piyush Singla threw light on different activities carried out from 15th of November, when the yatra was started here in the UT.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary while assessing the educational scenario in the schools of the UT remarked that the Department should look into the means for imparting instructions to students in local languages of the UT as per the guidelines of the New Education Policy (NEP)-2020.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, School Education Department; Project Director, Samagra Shiksha; Director School Education Kashmir/ Jammu; Chairperson JKBOSE besides other concerned.
During this meeting, the Chief Secretary took insights into the facilities available in the schools especially primary ones of the UT. He asked about the infrastructure available to give quality education to the students enrolled there. He asked about the status of the availability of drinking water, electricity and hygiene also.
Dulloo further observed that as per the New Education Policy of the country the instructions at the primary level ought to be given in local languages of the area. He asked for making preparations for the same and introduce such changes in the text books of these classes also.
He even took note of the female literacy rate of the UT and advised the Department to take every initiative in bringing each girl child to the school here.
The Chief Secretary asked about different innovative steps taken by the Department in enhancing the quality of education in our schools. He appreciates initiatives of the department like JK ATTENDANCE system and SAMIKSHA App developed by Samagra Shiksha and implemented across the UT to ensure presence of teachers in the schools and to monitor their work outcomes.
The Chief Secretary directed Samagra Shiksha to arrange live demonstration of both the Apps to see its impact and working collation of real time data through it. He said that, indicators are vital to analyse the holistic development in School Education sector and asked the officers to take its review fortnightly.
In his presentation the Principal Secretary, School Education, Alok Kumar gave overall outlook of the Department including its working and results marked so far. He revealed that the enrollment ratio in government schools is increasing as compared to private schools which is a good sign of improvement of school infrastructure and education here.