Principal Secretary, Skill Development, Dr Asgar Samoon, on Wednesday chaired a meeting of officers to review progress under Capex budget 2020-21 and discuss the annual Capex plan for the current financial year.The meeting was attended by Chairman, District Development Council, Abdul Gani, District Development Commissioner, Dr Owais Ahmad, Vice-Chairperson DDC, Kounsar Shafeeq, ADDC, Bandipore, Afsar Ali Khan, Superintending Engineers of PHE and R&B, Director Skill Development, Sajad Hussain, Chairmen Municipal Committees, representatives of NHPC, Joint Director Planning Bandipore, Imtiyaz Ahmad, PRI functionaries and district officers while Secretary Tribal Affairs, Dr Shahid Choudhary, participated online.Dr. Samoon took a detailed review of each sector and appreciated the officers for effective implementation of development plan last year.Deputy Commissioner gave a detailed Power Point Presentation about achievements of the district during 2020-21 and plan highlights of 2021-22 .While counting the achievements of the last financial year, Dr Owais informed that the District Hospital Bandipora was made functional from the new complex which was raised with a cost of Rs 33.21 crore while PHC Trigam was approved under PMDP for an amount of Rs. 2.49 crore and constructed by JK Housing Board. He said the NTPHC building at Nowgam was also completed with an amount of Rs. 1.81 crore.He said four other major projects including Gujjar and Bakerwal hostel Bandipore worth Rs 3.25 crore, Polytechnic College Bandipore worth Rs 18.00 crore, Dak Banglow Gurez worth Rs 3.25 crore and Indoor Stadium Shadipora worth Rs 4.83 crore were completed during the last financial year.He informed that Wullar Dredging Project is being completed with a cost of Rs 200.00 crore and the work is in progress. Besides, among new initiatives Burnai-Tulail has been provided mobile network for the first time. He said Rs 1 crore have been earmarked for tile paths/shopping complex and parking slots in the district while a solid waste management plant is being installed in the district hospital for bio-medical waste through CSIR.
Also, indoor stadium Shadipora was completed last year under PMDP with an amount of Rs. 4.83 crore.While informing about the macdamization of roads, Dr Owais informed the meeting that the district administration has macadamized 119.93 Km last year. Besides, 900 solar street lights have been installed in 123 villages and 3 towns of Bandipore while 1175 works with 6 school buildings, 6 roads, 3 irrigation schemes and related works have been completed during last financial year.It was informed that Rs 529 crore are being earmarked for the financial year 2021-22 with major thrust on Jal Jeevan Mission (51%), PMGSY (21%), Rural development Department (8%), Education and Health (8%). Besides, 3489 works have been targeted for completion for the financial year 2021-22 which included 114 Water Supply Schemes, 24 PMGSY works, 23 Urban Development works, 11 works of Education, 7 hospitals, 13 roads, 9 irrigation schemes and 1800 MGNREGA works.While deliberating on the development plan of the current year, Dr Asgar Samoon said the government has taken up water supply as a priority area and water supply shall be provided to each household with 51 percent budget being invested in the sector under Water Security Plan. He said 45000 HHs shall be provided 100% FHTC (Functional Tap Connections) under JJM. He said for the first time 30 Filtration Plants and sixty service reservoirs are being added to the system. “All 114 schemes of JJM have been put to tenders and an ambitious single year target has been set for 21-22”, he added.Dr Asgar Samoon said that 21 percent of the budget is being spent on connectivity of remote areas adding that a large chunk of remote areas is being looked after under PMGSY. As such, out of 30 ongoing PMGSY projects 24 projects have been targeted for completion during 2021-22 with allocation of Rs 112.00 crore.Dr Samoon said, for the first time, three-tier planning system has come into vogue for large participation of stakeholders especially DDCs, BDCs and PRIs. He said 152 works have been proposed by DDC members under District Development Council Plan while 117 works have been proposed by BDC members under Block Level Plan under Capex Budget 2021-22.Principal Secretary said Rs 48 crores of flexi funds have helped gram sabhas across the length and breadth of the district to allocate resources for infrastructure gaps.Later, Principal Secretary interacted with members of District Development Council, Chairmen Block Development Councils, representatives of Urban Local Bodies and other PRI members.The members apprised Dr Samoon of various issues of public interest and sought intervention of the government in redressal of the same. They also discussed several development issues with regard to the district.