The second phase of ‘Back to Village’ (B2V2) programme got kicked off today in 51 Panchayats of Bandipora district during which visiting officers interacted with the people at their doorsteps to assess their developmental needs.The visiting officers who visited their respective assigned Panchayats include Director Finance Mohammad Ayoub Nasir, Director Sheep Husbandry Abdul Salam Mir, Director Horticulture Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, Special Secretary Majid Khalil Ahmad Drabu and ADC Shopian Abdul Aziz Sheikh.The villages wore a festive look as Panchayats and other government buildings were decorated while locals thronged their respective Panchayats to interact with the visiting officers.A formal inaugural function of B2V2 was organised at SK Stadium Bandipora wherein several cultural programs were presented by school children to welcome the visiting officers. The function was chaired by Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza whereas Joint Director Planning Imtiyaz Ahmad, DYSS Officer Ghulam Hassan and other senior officers of the district were also present.During the function officers and children informed the audience about the importance of ‘Back to Village’ programme.Later, Deputy Commissioner distributed sports kits among the athletes and also provided wheel chairs to the District Hospital Bandipora that were donated by a Local Sports Academy.While welcoming the visiting officers, Deputy Commissioner said that there are 151 Panchayats in the district and 138 officers have been deputed from within the district while 13 senior officers from secretariat have also been deputed.
Soon after their arrival, the visiting officers held an interaction with the locals that was followed by the review of Back to Village Phase-I wherein the officers reviewed the status of works approved.It was given out that an action plan for Rs 14.70 crore have been formulated under the convergence mode to meet as many demands as possible.Panchayat Report Card was also discussed besides the analysis of critical gaps in different sectors in the villages. The officers also discussed Mission Antayodaya and Panchayat Collection and Disposal Plan besides the approved plan of 14th FC.Under the chairmanship of the visiting officers, Bio-diversity Management Committees were also formed and Sarpanch and Panchs were assigned several duties with regard to the implementation of several activities under Bio-diversity project.Later the officers along with the Panchayat members visited Schools, health institutions, AWCs, government assets, banks, water bodies and several private enterprises to review their functioning.In the evening the visiting officers also held an informal interaction with PRI representatives, frontline government functionaries and prominent citizens to discuss and deliberate upon the core problems and issues faced by the locals and deliberated upon the possible solutions to increase rural incomes and energize village and micro industries.