Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today reiterated the Government’s commitment for effectively implementing 73rd and 74th Amendments for empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) that will further strengthen the democratic set up at the grass-root level. He said that PRIs shall be devolved with sufficient financial resources besides terming such institutions vital for meeting the public expectations at the grass root level.The Lt. Governor made these remarks during a Public Outreach Camp chaired by him in the frontier village of Salamabad , Uri in Baramulla district.While terming the public participation necessary for achieving the goals of development, the Lt. Governor said that government is committed to ensure the equitable development of all the regions of J&K. Various initiatives are afoot to develop the border and remote areas, he added.The Lt. Governor said that special efforts shall be taken to augment the power generation capacity so that gap between the demand and supply is bridged. He further added that J&K is endowed with huge potential of power generation besides observing that every Government office/building shall be equipped with solar power harnessing techniques.He also said that under Jal Jeevan Mission launched by Government of India, piped drinking water shall be provided to every household. He further added that basic infrastructure in health institutions shall be developed for enhancing the quality of health and medicare systems.
While terming effective public grievance redressel mechanism vital for an effective and welfare administration, the Lt. Governor said that a drop box shall be installed in every Panchayat Halqa so that public issues and grievances are projected properly. He also assured that sufficient number of bunkers shall be constructed in affected areas so that loss of precious lives is averted during cross border shelling.On the occasion, as many as 10 delegations of Uri and its adjoining areas apprised the Lt. Governor about various issues and demands during which they sought his personal intervention for their timely disposal.Delegations of Uri Town and Block Uri demanded development and upgradation of basic infrastructure of the town and highlighted several issues pertaining to the overall development of Uri area.A delegation of Bijama, Lachipora, Bagna Noorkha and Salamabad demanded construction of Mini hydro Project on Nallah Bijama, upgradation of mobile connectivity in Bijama, upgradation of receiving station at Noorkha, macadamization of link roads etc.Another delegation of Block Parenpeelian demanded ST status for Paharis, construction of safety bunkers, issuance of Golden Cards under Ayushman Bharat Scheme and speedy completion of developmental projects in the area.A delegation of PRIs demanded more devolution of powers for strengthening panchayats and release of pending payments under MGNREGA.
Delegations from Shia Community, Gujjar and Bakerwal Community also put forth their issues during the programme.Meanwhile, the Lt. Governor gave a patient hearing to them all and assured that all the genuine issues shall be examined and resolved in a time bound manner.Earlier, the Lt. Governor kick-started a plantation drive by planting a Deodar plant in NHPC premises. He further inspected various stalls installed by several departments displaying their schemes, products and machinery for the overall benefit of the people. He also distributed sports equipments, free books, uniforms and other valuable items of great significance among some identified beneficiaries.District Development Commissioner Baramulla, Dr G N Itoo presented a brief profile of Uri sub-division and said that the recently culminated B2V2 programme received overwhelming response from the area. He also informed that about 1400 developmental works were identified during B2V1 out of which about 403 works have been taken up and are in different stages of execution.Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, heads of various departments, senior officers from Civil and Police Administration were present on the occasion.