Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 7: Reiterating resolve of the Government to address infrastructure requirements of far flung areas, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand today said that meeting development needs of rural, border and far-off belts of the State is high on the agenda and ambitious projects have been launched to equip these areas with all required modern facilities. He said with active support from the Union Government exemplary initiatives have been taken for all round development of the State.
“We are committed to make the State a model State in the country and mega infrastructure development projects have been launched to transform development profile of the State,” he added.
Tara Chand was addressing a largely attended monthly public meeting of the area at Khour, today.
SDM, Akhnoor Nagendra Singh, CEO N.R. Dingra, S.P Border, BDO and other senior engineers and officers of different departments attended the meeting.
While complimenting people of the area on sanction of Sainth cluster model village, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the new project is third in the series of cluster model villages that are coming up in the area. He said the total project cost would be over Rs 33 crore, out of which Rs 6 crore stands released and soon work on the project would be launched on fast track basis.
He said special model village projects at Pargwal and Pallanwala have already been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 11 crore and Rs 16 crore respectively and work on these projects is going on at fast pace.
He said college project has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 5 crore and very soon foundation stone of the building would be laid, adding that instructions have also been given to concerned authorities to make arrangements for early inauguration of hospital building so that people of the area can start getting better medicare facilities.
Directing executing agencies to monitor quality and pace of the development works, Tara Chand said special committee under Additional DDC has been constituted for regular monitoring of project status and progress. He said Rural Development Department should hold an internal audit of all cluster model village works so that any lapse found could be corrected well in time and project quality does not get compromised.
He said school buildings and other public works should be undertaken with full commitment and dedication, as children and common public have to use these assets for years together so top quality standards have to be maintained while executing.
He said in power sector major projects have been started in the area and Rs 67 lakh under CDF have been sanctioned for replacing old wires, line shifting and other such requirements. Instructions were issued to Irrigation Department for ensuring proper supply besides timely completion of ongoing projects.
Stressing on availing benefits through schemes like SKEWPY, the Deputy Chief Minister said that need of the hour is to look beyond Government sector for employment and develop those skills which have good market potential, adding that an entrepreneur not only becomes a role model for the society but also contributes in strengthening economy of the State besides providing employment opportunities to many others.
Underlining various initiatives taken in the Education Department, Tara Chand said to address the staff shortage multi pronged strategy has been adopted in the department. He said about 8000 posts have been to PSC and SSRB with directions for fast track recruitment to meet the shortage of staff and 5000 promotions have been made in gazetted and non-gazetted cadres.
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