*Reviews implementation of Poshan Abhiyan
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 24: The Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired a meeting of J&K Rural Roads Development Agency to review progress made under the flagship programme, ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’ (PMGSY).
Administrative Secretary, Public Works (R&B), Chief Engineers (PMGSY), Jammu and Kashmir, Superintendent Engineers and Executive Engineers, among others participated in the meeting.
Highlighting the importance of rural connectivity in region’s overall progress and development, Chief Secretary emphasised on effective monitoring of projects on road-to-road basis to ensure their timely completion.
While appreciating last year’s progress, Chief Secretary directed the Department to complete 5300 kms PMGSY roads this year, of this 4600 kms is in Jammu province and 700 kms in Kashmir. He maintained that the Department must prioritize works which are free from any encumbrance viz- land acquisition, forest clearance, court cases, shifting of utilities and alike.
He directed Principal Secretary to fix district wise targets for completing PMGSY roads and, further, impressed upon Deputy Commissioners to fortnightly review progress in light of their respective targets. “Officers must resolve petty and small issues at an earliest and ensure adherence to project timelines”, he added.
Moreover, the officers were asked to ensure availability of work force/ machinery and allow contractors to bring in migrant labour and equipment after observing the duly established protocols and standard operating procedures with respect to COVID -19 mitigation efforts.
The Chief Secretary directed completion of 2000 kms of ‘Black Topping’ works by 30th September, 2020, and 5000 kms by 31st, October, 2020.
Warning officers against lackadaisical approach towards attaining respective targets, Chief Secretary maintained that strict action shall initiated against non- performing officers.
The Chief Secretary underscored the need of using ‘Green Technology’ in construction of roads under PMGSY, and directed Chief Engineers of both provinces to explore national markets for subject experts and executing agencies. He asked them to construct 2 roads per province as model roads which can set a benchmark for future projects.
Later, the Chief Secretary also chaired a meeting to review progress of various projects of National Highways Authority of India and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd., and directed the agencies to strictly adhere to the project timelines, failing which strict actions will be initiated against the non-performers.
Meanwhile, CS chaired a meeting to discuss the ‘Annual Programme Implementation Plan’ (APIP) for 2020-21 in respect of Anganwadi Services under the flagship scheme- ‘Integrated Child Development Programmme’.
Administrative Secretaries of Finance Department, Agriculture Department, Social Welfare Department, Jal Shakti Department, Planning, Development & Monitoring Department, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Department, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Mission Director, ICDS, among others participated in the meeting.
At the outset, Chief Secretary reviewed the action taken report on the directions issued by the State Empowered Programme Committee. During the meeting, it was informed that the Scheme is currently being implemented through 128 Child Development Projects having 30,765 Anganwadi Centres and is benefitting 6.73 lac children and 1.6 lac pregnant and lactating mothers.
For effective implementation of ‘Decentralization Policy for Procurement of Supplementary Nutrition’, Chief Secretary impressed upon Deputy Commissioners to monthly review the progress of implementation of nutrition programme and ensure proper procurement, expenditure, quality control and hygiene with respect to procured nutrition.
The Chief Secretary asked the Department to constitute District, Block and Panchayat Level Committees to ensure community participation in Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities of POSHAN Abhiyan. “Community based events on the themes associated with maternal-children health viz Annaprashan Diwas, Suposhan Diwas, Pratham Entry, De-worming, etc. should be a regular feature”, he added. It was further directed that a calendar of activities be framed to maintain uniformity across various Child Development Projects.
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