Secretary, Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Khurshid Ahmad Shah on Saturday directed the officers of the department to ensure that all the developmental schemes are executed efficiently so that their benefits reach the common masses.Shah asked the officers to connect to the people at grass root level and listen to public grievances and ensure their timebound redressal.Secretary said this while chairing a meeting to review the functioning of Rural Development Department.While addressing the meeting, Shah stressed on creation of notable assets in the villages under MGNREGA and directed officers to take up those works which will benefit maximum number of people in the village. He said the work of all the officers at ground level including BDOs is being assessed and the best performing officer will be rewarded.
The Secretary also stressed on increasing number of Man days under MGNREGA. For maintaining transparency and providing information to the people about welfare schemes being executed by the Government in rural areas, the secretary emphasized that the Monitoring Information System of the Department should be updated regularly.Earlier Director Rural Development Kashmir Tasaduq Jeelani informed the Secretary that 99 percent of approved labour budget of Rs 364.40 has been expended in the financial year 2015-16. He said the department has been able to generate 125 lac man days under MGNREGA and 43,799 works have been completed in the last fiscal while 549387 job cards have been issued till date.
Under IAY, 6565 houses were constructed and 41.89 crore rupees were expended on the projects while as 15605 houses are under construction.Jeelani said during the previous financial year, 401 Panchayat ghars were constructed while 307 Panchayat ghars are under construction. He said that 51.48 crore rupees were spent under 13FC for the said project while 40.75 crore rupees were spent under MGNREGA to build these Panchayat ghars. He said 19.88 crores were expended on repair and renovation of Panchayat ghars.Expressing satisfaction over the functioning of the department, Shah asked the officers to ensure effective implementation of various scheme so that rural people are benefited besides generating employment opportunities for the people living in rural and far-flung areas of the state.