Govt to hold elections to third tier of Panchayats
DoPT to hold regional conference for officers
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 3: Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Girish Chandra Murmu and Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam today discussed the roadmap for implementation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s developmental agenda, empowerment of people at the grass-root level, good governance and accountable administration in the newly created UT.
The agenda and steps required for its implementation were discussed threadbare at two-hour long meeting the Lieutenant Governor had with Dr Jitendra Singh at latter’s Trikuta Nagar residence tonight, which was later joined by Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam.
Good governance, carrying forward developmental agenda of the Central Government including prestigious projects undertaken in different sectors, accountable administration and people-friendly approach of the Union Territory administration were discussed and strategy for their implementation was chalked-out in the meeting which was the Lieutenant Governor’s first call to any Central Government Minister after taking charge of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31.
The agenda set for Jammu and Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah which was based on carrying out unprecedented development in the Union Territory and immediate steps required for its speedy implementation were reviewed in the meeting.
The meeting decided to hold regular review of developmental projects to ensure that no work suffer for want of funds or any other kind of reasons. It was decided that the projects which were pending for some of the reasons will be taken up immediately by removing the hurdles in them.
After the meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh announced that work on Kiru power project in Kishtwar and Ujh in Kathua will start soon as all decks have been cleared for their construction. Both these projects were pending for long time and were cleared with intervention of the BJP Government at the Centre and will benefit the State as well as local population a lot.
Describing newly elected Block Development Council (BDC) chairpersons, Sarpanchs and Panchs as “legitimate genuine representatives” of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory in absence of the Legislative Assembly, Dr Jitendra Singh said larger Panchayats have already received Rs 1 crore while smaller Panchayats have been given amount between Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh.
“More grants will pour in shortly,” he said, adding that the Government also proposed to hold elections to the District Planning and Development Boards (DPDBs), which will be the third and final tier of the Panchayats, very soon. This was for the first time that the second tier of Panchayats was constituted in the State with holding of elections to the BDCs.
During the meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh stressed that transfers and postings in the administration should be ordered under laid down norms and guidelines and without any “external considerations”.
“Developmental works including those being executed under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) and others should be expedited and monitored regularly,” the Union Minister said and called for making the Union Territory “corruption free”.
He called for posting of suitable officers at prestigious posts depending upon their expertise and experience at all levels. He said the Government and the administration should hold regular meetings to address issues of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He also spelt out the priorities of Narendra Modi Government for Jammu and Kashmir and steps required for their immediate implementation.
Dr Jitendra Singh announced that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) held by him will be organizing regional conference on governance in Jammu and Kashmir this month to give exposure to local officers. The programme, he added, will be quite useful for the officers in carrying forward developmental works and give good governance and efficient administration to the people of the Union Territory.
It may be mentioned here that Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu had served in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat while BVR Subrahmanyam has worked in the PMO. This is second term of Dr Jitendra Singh in the PMO.
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