Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh today said that the government is committed to ensure democratic decentralization of powers and in this connection the elections would be soon held for urban local and other civic bodies and exhorted upon the people to participate in the same so that they involve themselves in day to day governance .The Deputy Chief Minister was addressing huge gatherings after inaugurating additional blocks of Middle schools at Dharmani, Amala, Katali Billawar in Kathua district.Senior officers from district administration, Ms. Mamta Singh and prominent persons of the area were present on the occasion.The Deputy Chief minister asked the people to be prepared for the elections which are going to be held for the civic bodies,so that they can elect genuine representatives who can effectively catalyze the developmental initiatives of the government besides highlighting the problems being faced by the people and readdressing them effectively. He said that it is the visionary approach of the Prime Minister that the power should percolate down to the ground level by involving the people in governance, policy formulation and implementation.
Dr Singh said that ever since the present government took over it has been an endeavor to ensure proper implementation of various flagship programs being undertaken for accelerating the development of the state and necessary instructions have already been passed to the concerned. He said that the National Food Security Act would go a long way in providing subsidized food grains to the people of the State and maintained that the verification time for registration under the Act has been extended in order so that more and more people can avail its benefit.Terming the Prime Minister Package as a historic one, the Deputy chief Minister said that it would act as a catalyst to further accelerate the development of the state as it is comprehensive in nature as separate heads are provided for sectors like, PDD, R&B, etc. ‘’Necessary steps have already been initiated for ensuring its effective implementation so that the development of state is accelerated’’, he added.
Referring to the various initiatives undertaken for augmentation of Education sector, Dr Singh said that the it forms the priority sector and necessary thrust has been initiated, so that the quality of education imparted to the students is improved and they come up to the national and international level. The Deputy Chief Minister also attended public meetings at Dharmani, Galak and Parangoli in which people from different villages of the area and officers of administration were present. The people raised several demands related to the sectors of PHE, PDD, R&B, Health, Social Welfare etc.While interacting with the people of the area, Dr. Singh said that the instructions have already been passed to the concerned departments to ensure the early redressal of their problems He said that the PDD infra of the whole areas would be improved, augmented and un-electrified villages would be covered under Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gramin Vidyuthkaran Yojana (DDUGVY).The Deputy Chief Minister further said that sub-division hospital Billawar would be upgraded by increasing its capacity and ensuring that quality faculty of specialist doctors is provided besides the posts of vacant doctors would be filled so that they can be posted in the health institution of the areas. He said that the instructions have already been passed to the concerned for bringing the whole area on the tourist circuit so that the socio-economic profile of the area gets elevated.The Deputy Chief Minister also distributed cheques of medical assistance to several persons on the occasion.