Jammu: In a historic decision for transformation and equitable development of Jammu and Kashmir, 20 districts of the union territory have been granted capital expenditure of Rs 22,126.93 crore for 2022-23, officials said. Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir government has achieved 'record-breaking milestone' of completing 51,891 projects in the last financial year, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha took yet another historic decision by approving district capex budget (DCB) for the year 2022-23, more than 75 percent since last year for the equitable development of the union territory.
LG spelled out his goal to make development a powerful people's movement and ensure timely completion of target as key to transformation of J&K. The unprecedented district capex budget for all 20 districts was approved during a high-level meeting, chaired by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha here at the Civil Secretariat, an official spokesman said. Highlighting the key features of the DCB, the Lt Governor observed that the plan has been finalized by adopting a bottom-up approach with active involvement of panchayats, BDCs, and DDCs.
"The key objective of district plan is the empowerment of panchayati raj system and to strengthen grass root level democracy through participatory management", he added. In order to strengthen PRIs, Rs 1000 crore has been allocated for Panchayats, Rs 200 crore for DDCs and Rs 71.25 crore for BDCs, the Lt Governor observed.
The Lt Governor further said that it was with the active participation of PRIs, we were able to achieve record-breaking milestone of completing 51,891 projects in the last financial year.
"These achievements are unprecedented and would not have been possible without dedication and teamwork of the PRIs, officials and other stakeholders. Timely completion of target is key to transformation", he added. The Lt Governor observed that J&K administration has made Jan Bhagidari' the cornerstone of project planning and execution process. For the first time, after the detailed deliberations, a plan has been prepared with collective efforts of the PRIs and the administration, aptly reflecting the developmental aspirations of our people, he said.
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"Our aim is to make development a powerful people's movement. We are working to ensure people belonging to deprived section enjoy social justice, equality and the last man on the socio-economic ladder receives equal opportunity, the Lt Governor said. The Lt Governor further called upon all stakeholders to maintain the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the district plan, besides focusing on key areas of youth engagement; upgrading the health infrastructure & patient care system; improving quality of education; strengthening of basic amenities; timely implementation of projects, which will collectively result in raising the socio-economic status of our people.
It was informed that keeping in view the needs in the rural areas, Rs 10,914.08 crore under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Rs 3,814.42 crore under MGNREGA, Rs 1,529.59 crore under PMAY-G, Rs 2001.12 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) and Rs 47.53 crore under Border Area Development Programme (BADP), have been earmarked during 2022-23. Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department gave details of the district-wise Capex budget via a Powerpoint presentation and explained the components of the budgets for respective districts.
PTI
