Conducts extensive tour of the district, inaugurates macdamization, beautification projects
BANDIPORA: Principal Secretary Skill Development and Secretary Incharge (Development & Monitoring) for District Bandipora, Dr Asgar Samoon on Tuesday inaugurated Rozgaar Mela (Job Fair) at ITI Bandipora and conducted an extensive tour of Bandipora district to inspect the ongoing development projects besides inaugurating macadamization and beautification works.
He was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad and other senior officers of the district.
He visited stalls put up by various departments showcasing their performance and schemes available for handholding to unemployed youth for establishment of income generation units.
He was informed that about half a dozen private firms participated in the Mela for placement of youth. It was revealed that more than 180 resumes were collected by the placement partners who will review the resumes of the youth for placement in respective companies.
Dr Samoon directed while appreciating the efforts of District administration for organizing the mela while strictly following covid19 guidelines, urged them to organize more such Melas in future and take measures to call more private firms for direct placement in these Melas. He asked officers to discuss the modalities with other line departments including Mission Youth and Directorate of Skill Development for coordinated efforts in this regard.
Dr Samoon inaugurated the macdamization of Hajin-Markundal road and Gamroo-Gundpora road and interacted with the officers and the locals. Locals on the occasion raised several developmental issues. Special instructions were passed to Chief Engineer R&B department for starting macadamisation of Bus Adda and Ajas to Bandipore Road.
He also inaugurated the beautification of Papchan Bridge. He informed that the banks along the Papchan Nallah will be beautified under town beautification plan so that people can stroll at these spots in morning and evenings. He said about 1000 solar enabled street lights have also been installed across the district besides developing parks and face lifting of markets and walls.
He also inspected Polytechnic College at Gujjar-Bakerwal Hostel and took stock of the finishing works at these two institutions. He interacted with the officials and students to get the feedback and assess the quality of services being provided to them.
Dr Samoon later chaired a meeting of officers to review the progress of developmental works and the achievements under the capex budget 2020-21.
The meeting was attended by Joint Director Planning Imtiyaz Ahmad, Chairman Muncipal Council Bandipora, Municipal Committee Hajin, Executive Engineer R&B, Superintendent ITI, Assistant Director Employment, District Officers, Sectoral officers besides other senior officers of the district.
Principal Secretary took detailed review of each sector and appreciated the officers for effective implementation of the developmental plan last year. He also appreciated the plan formulation with wider consultation of PRI’s and other Stake holders.
At the outset, Deputy Commissioner gave a detailed Power Point Presentation about achievements of District during 2020-21 and Plan highlights of 2021-22 .
While counting the achievements of the last financial year, Dr Owais informed that the District Hospital Bandipora was made functional from the new complex after completion of the complex at the cost of Rs 33.21 Crore while PHC Trigam was approved under PMDP for an amount of Rs. 2.49 Crores and constructed by JK Housing Board. He said the NTPHC Building at Nowgam was also completed for an amount of Rs. 1.81 Crores.
He said four other major projects including Gujjar and Bakerwal hostel Bandipore at the cost of Rs 3.25 crores , Polytechnic College Bandipore at the cost of Rs 18.00 Crore, Dak Banglow Gurez at the cost of Rs 3.25 Cr and Indoor Stadium Shadipora at the cost of Rs 4.83 Crore were completed during the last financial year.
It was given out that Wullar Dredging Project is being completed at the cost of Rs 200.00 Crores and the work is in progress in full pace. DC Bandipora said among new initiatives, Burnai-Tulail has been provided Mobile Network for the First time. He said Rs 2.00 Crores are being spent on 3 towns of Hajin, Bandipore and Sumbal while Rs 1 Crore has been earmarked for tile paths /shopping complex, parking slots in the district while a solid waste plant is being installed in the district hospital for bio-medical waste and the work on these projects is in progress.
DC informed that the Indoor Stadium Shadipora got completed last year under PMDP for an amount of Rs. 4.83 Crores
While informing about the macdamization of roads, Dr Owais informed the meeting that the district administration was able to macadamize 119.93 Km last year. He said in addition 900 solar street lights have been installed in 123 Villages and 03 towns of Bandipore while 1175 Works with 06 school buildings, 06 Roads, 03 Irrigation Schemes etc have been completed during last financial year.
It was stated that total Rs 529 Crores are being earmarked for the financial year 2021-22 with major thrust on Jal Jeevan Mission (51%), PMGSY (21%), Rural development Department (8%), Education & Health (8%) etc. DC Bandipora said 3489 works have been targeted for completion for the financial year 2021-22 which includes 114 Water supply schemes, 24 PMGSY works, 23 Urban Development Works, 11 works of Education, 07 Hospitals, 13 Roads, 09 Irrigation Schemes and 1800 MGNREGA Works.
While deliberating on the development plan of the current year, Dr Asgar Samoon said the government has taken up the water supply issue as a priority area and underWater Security Plan water supply shall be provided to each HouseHold with 51 percent budget being invested in the sector . He said 45000 HHs shall be provided 100% FHTC (Functional Tap Connections) under JJM.
He said for the first time 30 Filtration Plants and sixty Service reservoirs are being added to the system. “All 114 Schemes of JJM have been put to tenders and the massive & ambitious single year target has been set for 21-22” he added.
He said 21 percent of the budget is being spent on connectivity of remote areas. Samoon said owing to its topography the district poses challenges in road maintenance and upkeep and the administration is working on two fronts- identifying and projecting new roads , Bye-passes and charging existing schemes to the fullest.
He said a large chunk of remote areas are looked after by PMGSY. Out of 30 On-going PMGSY Projects Rs 127.99 Cr, 24 projects are targeted for completion during 21-22 with allocation of Rs 112.00 Cr in CFY.
Samoon said for the first time a three-tier planning system has come into vogue for large participation of stakeholders, especially DDCs/BDCs/PRIs. He said 152 Works have been proposed by DDC Members under District Development Council Plan under Capex Budget 2021-22 out of which, 40 Works have been proposed under Power Sector, 07 works under Education, 45 under Rural Development, 12 under Health sector, 27 under Road connectivity, 07 under PHE Sector and 12 under Irrigation sector.
He said 117 Works have been proposed by BDC Members under Block Level Plan under Capex Budget 2021-22 out of which 26 Works have been proposed under Connectivity, 54 works under Rural Development, 22 under power Sector, 02 under Health 01 under Education sector and 01 under PHE.
Samoon said Rs 48 crores of flexi funds has helped gram sabhas across the length and breadth of the district to allocate resources for infrastructure gaps. “The wide spread allocation in 12 blocks, 151 Panchayats shall help in removing regional imbalances and building public – Admin developmental interface” he added.
He said under BADP sector, Out of 47 On-going Projects costing Rs 19.08 Cr, 17 projects are targeted for completion this year including Road from Kashpat to Kilshay Phase-II , Food Godown at Wazirthal, Electrification of Blow-neil, Sekinder and Safadaab Villages for which an amount of Rs 1.39 Cr have been earmarked for the current Financial Year.
Later, Principal Secretary also interacted with members of Panchayat Raj Institutions led by Chairman District Development Council Ab Gani and Vice-Chairperson Kounser Shafeeq.
The members apprised Dr Samoon about various issues of public interest and sought intervention of the government. Dr Samoon gave patient hearing to them and assured them positive response to their grievance. They also discussed several developmental issues with regard to the district.