400 Govt services made online
List for homeless in J&K prepared in 2018
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, July 8 : Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today announced 10 kilogrammes of additional ration at subsidized rates for priority households of Jammu and Kashmir under Prime Minister’s Food Supplementation Scheme.
Addressing a press conference at Rajbhawan here, the LG said that priority households in J&K are already getting 5 kg ration free per family member. He said that 2.29 lakh families are getting 35 kg free ration.
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“From now onwards, 10 kg additional ration will be provided to each family covered under priority households. In J&K, 14.32 lakh ration card holders and 57,24,000 beneficiaries will be covered under Prime Minister’s FSS for priority households in the UT,” he said.
Sinha said the additional 10 kg ration will be provided at the rate of Rs 25 per kg. “This will cost Rs 1.80 cr to the UT Government annually. Against the Rs 34 per kg rate of rice, people coming under the PM’s FSS for priority households will have to pay only Rs 25 per kg. There is a subsidy of Rs 9,” he added.
“People falling in the category of priority households were already getting a 4 kg ration per person free of cost. So, if there are four family members, they will get 16 kg free ration plus 10 kg additional rice at the subsidized rates,” the LG said.
On a query about the questions raised about the number of people who are eligible for 5 marlas of land under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) for construction of houses, Sinha said that the list of those eligible has been prepared in 2018.
“The census took place in 2011 and the list has been prepared in 2018. And if somebody sees sun during the night, I can’t do anything, he has to see the doctor,” he said.
Asked whether the Government would announce any sort of relaxation for poor in power tariff, the LG said that people will have to pay power bills as per their usage.
“In the past four years, power tariff bills mounted to Rs 31000 crore,” he said.
The LG said that due to the rains, Amarnath Yatra has been suspended and he was hopeful that the weather improves by tomorrow so that pilgrims proceed towards cave shrine.
About steps taken by the administration in view of caving in of a road stretch at Panthal, the LG said that efforts are on to make alternate road ready within three days to facilitate Amarnath pilgrims. “The permanent solution is once the tunnel is completed,” he said.
To a query about delay in SSB recruitment, Sinha said that in early exams there were complaints of irregularities after which a CBI probe was initiated.
“The matter is before the High Court and once the decision comes, exams will be held. For fresh posts, exams dates will be announced within 15 days,” he added.
Earlier, while addressing BHU Urology Update and Alumni meet organised by SKIMS, Srinagar, at SKICC here, the LG said that almost 400 Government services are in online mode under the Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA).
“All services are in auto-escalation mode. If an official fails to provide a birth certificate within 15 days, the matter will automatically reach to his higher ups and action may be initiated which includes fine also,” he said.
Sinha said that soon after he took over the reins of UT on August 7, 2020, he decided to abolish the practice causing huge blow to the exchequer.
“When the Government offices shifted back to Srinagar in May 2021, the decade’s long practice of Darbar move ended forever. There used to be a practice of ferrying files in 270 trucks from Srinagar to Jammu and vice-versa,” he said.
He said under the costly practice of Darbar Move, 1000 rooms were hired in Srinagar and 800 in Jammu every year to accommodate officers and officials.
Sinha said that Srinagar is jam-packed with tourists and he is getting calls about availability of rooms almost every day.
“Last year, 1.88 crore tourists visited J&K and this year the number is expected to increase further,” he said. “The hotel infrastructure will come up at district level too besides at the tourist resorts of the UT.”
Sinha said before 2020, 9000 developmental projects were completed in a year, and this year the administration is about to complete 93000 developmental projects. “The funding cost is almost the same and there is not a major difference,” he added.
About the G-20 Tourism Working group meeting in Srinagar held on May 22 to May 25, the LG said the event is much talked about across the globe even though similar meetings were held in various parts of the country. “The successful G-20 meet wasn’t possible in Srinagar without the support of locals,” he said.
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