The District Development Board Udhampur that met here today under the chairmanship of Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment, Choudhary Lal Singh approved an annual plan outlay of Rs. 187.53 crore for the financial year 2017-18 for the development of the district.Minister of State for Finance, Planning, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ajay Nanda, Vice-Chairman, J&K State Board for Welfare and Development of OBCs, Rashpaul Verma , Vice Chairperson, J&K State Advisory Board for Welfare and Development of Scheduled Castes, Bhushan Lal Dogra, Legislators, Pawan Kumar Gupta, Dina Nath Bhagat, R S Pathania, Sham Lal Bhagat, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Niraj Kumar and heads of various departments and district officers were present in the meeting.Stressing on the need-based development of various far flung areas of the district, the Chairman called upon the district heads to consult MLAs before undertaking various developmental works and formulating future planning and DPRs in the district to address the problems of the people in their respective constituencies.
The Minister directed the Rural Development Department to project the liabilities created under different schemes so that the pending wages of the poor laborers can be cleared at the earliest and asked the district heads to furnish the ‘Utilization Certificates’ on time for the early release of funds. He further directed the concerned to hold regular interactions with their field functionaries, besides conducting regular touring of different areas to ensure speedy completion of various on-going developmental works. He also directed the departments to undertake various developmental works under convergence mode for their early completion.Laying stress on prioritizing some vital sectors, the Chairman directed for flagging development of sports infrastructure in the district to engage the youth in various sports activities. He said the district has lot of sports potential and it is the endeavor of the Government to create appropriate infrastructure and facilities to nurture the available talent.Flagging another vital potential sector, the Chairman called for paying focused attention to exploit the areas which are rich in horticulture production. He directed the officers of Horticulture Department to identify the potential areas and formulate the calendar of activities to promote this sector, which he said can help greatly in boosting the local as well as State’s economy.
Regarding the development of sericulture sector, Minister asked the concerned officials to lay focus on raising mulberry trees to use them for rearing silk worms only. Regarding the promotion of tourism in the district, the Chairman directed the CEO PDA to lay focus on the development of various tourist spots like Dudu, Basantgarh and Panchari also so that the influx of the tourists in the district can be increased. The Chairman further asked various district heads to implement the decisions taken in the DDB meeting in letter and spirit. To ensure the benefits of various Central sponsored welfare schemes to the beneficiaries, the Chairman also stressed on the enrollment of left out beneficiaries under AADHAR besides linking various schemes with AADHAR and asked the heads of various departments to complete various developmental works in a time bound manner.Choudhary Lal Singh further stressed on maintaining cleanliness in the district to make Swachh Bharat Mission a success and called for launching more and more plantation drives to maintain ecological balance.The chairman also reviewed the physical and financial achievements registered by various departments during the year 2016-17 in detail.
He congratulated the district administration for creating 170 foot bridges and asked for developing more such bridges in the district for the benefits of the rural population.MoS Ajay Nanda laid stress on the development of infrastructure at the site of Moungri Mela at Brahamchari temple and also emphasized on holding awareness camps at both Tehsil and block level so that the common masses could avail benefit from them.Legislators also projected the area specific demands for the development of their constituencies and also highlighted various problems being faced by the people and need to be attended on priority. The issues which were projected mainly pertained to upgradation of infrastructure in Electricity, Roads, Education, supply of essentials, drinking water, health and water in their areas.Earlier, District Development Commissioner Udhampur, Niraj Kumar briefed the meeting about the physical and financial progress achieved under different schemes/sectors in the district and gave a detailed account of achievements under PHE, PDD, PWD, PMGSY, Education and Health, Irrigation, Social Welfare and Agriculture Department etc and also highlighted various demands.