Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Thursday said that the corruption-free and transparent governance is the priority of his administration.
"In the last two months, several major steps have been taken up by the administration to empower villages and urban areas of the Union Territory and to make the government more responsive and accessible to the people. My first and only motto is development across 20 districts without any discrimination, Sinha said while addressing a press conference in Srinagar's Raj Bhawan.
He further said, "I would ensure more use of technology for quick, hassle-free services like online building permissions, clearance of contractors' bills, and other payments. Apart from endeavouring to universalize the Centrally Sponsored Schemes in J&K, the administration has tried to give a push to the ongoing important projects of public importance benefitting common man, which had been languishing for years and some of them even for decades."
Speaking on the recently concluded Back to Village (B2V) programme, he said, "Block Diwas was conducted at 285 different locations in which around 4.5 lakh people participated. During the programme, a total 13,675 works started after earlier phases of B2V were completed while another 5,980 were taken up. During the programme, 4,440 sports kits were distributed to panchayats, 3,959 dustbins were installed to promote cleanliness and 2,430 families provided a house under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana."
"4,25,258 Domicile Certificates, 45,327 Category Certificates, and 51,097 birth/ death/ disability certificates were issued in addition to a greater number of social welfare pensions sanctioned during the program, he continued.
While announcing public outreach in towns, he said, "the administration is coming up with ‘My Town My Pride’ movement, which starts from 19th October. We have three main objectives – Public outreach in towns, Strengthening grass-root democracy, and service delivery at doorsteps. I have been pushing for on spot Grievance Redressal, Instant delivery of services to the masses, and on the ground speedy execution of people-centric projects."
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He also declared that 44 long-languishing projects have been completed in September alone, while another 1798 projects are being expedited for completion. We are number one among all the States and UT’s as far as performance in PMGSY is concerned. We have already completed 1,392 km and maximum progress was made between June 1 to October 15.
"In the last two months, various steps were taken for the development of the Agriculture and Horticulture sectors. We are distributing free “thresher” to every Panchayat to ensure the harvest process is not hampered. We are finalizing a proposal to provide 500 tractors to willing farmers on subsidized rates. We are also identifying stretches for the construction of Public Conveniences infrastructure in the cities, towns, and along the highways. It will have standard designs, a common theme, and common branding. We are hoping to construct about 700-800 Public Toilets within three months," he said.
On providing Business Support Loan, he said: "Rs 47.90 crores against 1,317 borrowers already stand disbursed. We are also giving a relief amount of Rs 1000 per month (for Nine Months) to performing artists and the government will spend at least Rs 1.8 Crore; Rs 1000 per month to Shakarawala, Workers, Guides in House Boats as a relief amount and government will spend 11.95 crore on this; Drivers, cleaners who have moved to construction sector due to pandemic will be paid Rs.1000 per month for six months and the government will spend Rs.80 crore on this; 50% subsidy or Rs. 5 Lakh whichever is lower will be provided to the transporters for replacements of old buses. We are spending around Rs. 25 crores for this relief."
Speaking on the health sector, Sinha said, "The work on 200 Bedded District Hospitals at Ganderbal and 500 bedded state of the art Paediatric Hospital at Bemina, which were started in 2009 and 2012 respectively were being delayed unnecessarily. We ensured that the works on these projects are expedited and both the hospitals are set to open next month. Work on Unani Hospital Ganderbal, which was going on at snail's pace since 2011 has been sped up and the hospital is ready to be dedicated to the public, with minor works like lift etc pending"
"The work on AIIMS, Vijaypur (District Samba) has been started and is set to augment the Health Infrastructure of Jammu Kashmir Union Territory by August 2022", he informed.
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"I am also committed to providing quality and accessible healthcare services to the people of J&K. JK Health Insurance scheme viz ‘Sehat’ will cover every citizen of this Union territory and will also cover those not included under Ayushman Bharat," he added.
While affirming all-round development of Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "The Government of India is giving a dedicated focus on strengthening road connectivity through some major road projects that will ultimately boost the economic growth of the UT and its people. The initiating of the work of Zojila Tunnel by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Ji is a historic milestone"
"Seven more Tunnels are in the pipeline to strengthen the road connectivity across J&K. Construction of the 8450-metre-long twin-tube tunnel between Qazigund and Banihal will be completed by the coming March. the 2968-metre-long 6-single tunnels road between Ramban and Banihal is due for completion in December 2021. Khilani to Kishtwar, 450-meter long tunnel will be completed by June 2022,” he said, adding, "DPR for 4.5 km long Chennai to Anantnag Tunnel near Sudhmahadev is prepared and tender will be floated soon. DPRs for Rs 4600 cr worth 10.20 Km long Sinthan Pass tunnel and Rs 350 cr worth Gelani Bypass Tunnel have been finalized and Tender for Rs 5400 cr valued Chattru to Anantnag Tunnel will be floated soon as its DPR is also finalized. All the projects will be started in the coming year".
