Minister for Rural Development Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice, Abdul Haq Khan today reviewed the progress of various schemes under execution in the Department of Rural Development and directed the officials to utilize allocated budget before the onset of winters.The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary Nirmala Sharma, Director Rural Development Kashmir, Gazanfar Ali, Mission Director JK State Rural Livelihood Mission Javid Bakshi, Deputy Director Finance, ACD’s of various districts and other senior officials of the district.While taking the review of the developmental works, Minister asked the concerned officers to ensure completion of targeted works of the year as soon as possible. He said in case of lapse of funds, the concerned officers will have to take the responsibility and face action.The minister was informed that the department has spent 608 crore till date under MGNREGA out of the available budget of Rs 668 crore.It was stated that Ninety Nine Lakh Mandays have also been generated under the scheme till date thus achieving the target of 83 percent.
The Minister directed the officials to prioritize works for next year and concentrate of construction of water harvesting tanks under IWMP. He directed officials of IWMP to go for convergence of funds under MGNREGA for construction of harvesting tanks in rural areas. He said during past few years the department concentrated on developing road connectivity that emerged out to be a great success and a network of roads was developed in rural areas.Minister asked the officials to lay stress on water conservation by constructing water harvesting tanks and small dams in upper belts of villages to tap water for future use besides construction of check dams and percolation tanks. He said aim of IWMP is to save every drop of water that falls on earth and coordinated efforts are needed to forward in its mission. He said in convergence mode with various other department consolidation of works can be done hence avoiding repetition of works as the similar works are done under MGNREGA, Irrigation, IWMP and Agriculture Department.
Under Swach Bharat Mission, the minister was informed that the program is being implemented in all the districts of the stat. Meeting was informed that 7519 villages of the state will be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) by the end of Year 2019. It was stated that 200 villages have been declared ODF while 600 villages are at saturation mode.Meeting was informed that the department will construct four lakh Individual Household Latrines (IHHL) during current financial year while 7.57 lakh IHHLs will be covered by the end of year 2019. Officials said 3.30 lakh IHHLs have been covered so far covering about 3.30 lakh households. Regarding the Solid Waste Management, Minister said the biggest challenge for the government is the management of solid waste and numerous initiatives have been taken by the department for the purpose. He said many pilot projects have been initiated in many Panchayats and if successful, will be replicated in other villages.