The State Government was determined to simplify the procedures, bring transparency and provide quality and timely information to the common man through the use of information technology. This was stated by the Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur at Vipasha Sadan, Mandi today while releasing District Good Governance Index-2021, launching ‘Green Star Rating Initiative’ (HIM-GRIH) for Hotels and laying foundation stone of Regional Office and Residential Building of HP State Pollution Control Board Mandi to be constructed at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore at Mandi.
Chief Minister said that the State Government has always been emphasizing on achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and continuously working to improve the services being provided to the public. He said that the State Government has laid special emphasis on Minimum Government Maximum Governance and was taking measures to improve the quality of governance.
While expressing hope that the District Good Governance Index (DGGI) would help in assessing the quality of governance, the Chief Minister said that this report would also help the departments and districts to take corrective measures.
He said that the third report of District Good Governance Index 2021 has been prepared on the basis of secondary data of 12 districts, under which data on broad 8 subjects, 19 focal points and 76 indicators were collected for comparative assessment of all districts.He said that Himachal Pradesh was the first State in the country which has started the work of measuring the quality of administration in important areas from the year 2018.
Jai Ram Thakur said that this report would help the districts to evaluate their progress and would also help the policy makers to identify the critical areas where interventions were needed to improve the performance.
The Chief Minister gave away prizes to the winners of DGGI to Deputy Commissioners on the occasion. Deputy Commissioner Kangra Dr. Nipun Jindal got first prize of Rs. 50 lakh, Deputy Commissioner Bilaspur Pankaj Rai second prize of Rs. 35 lakh and Deputy Commissioner Una Raghav Sharma third prize of Rs. 25 lakh.
He also congratulated the top performing districts for their good governance. He urged the concerned officers to provide better administration at the grassroot level where the ranking was bad so that their ranking can be improved in the next year.
The Chief Minister also released a book ‘Ward Member Meenu’, a Comic book on solid waste management on the occasion. He said that Himachal Pradesh was known for its natural beauty and clean environment, but continuous efforts were required to maintain this status.
He said that important aspects related to the environment such as water and air quality, climate change and conservation of natural resources need to be given more emphasis, because these were the basic issues of the environment which directly and indirectly affect the entire human civilization.
Jai Ram Thakur said that Himachal Pradesh Green Rating Initiative for Hotels (HIM-GRIHA) started by the State Pollution Control Board would inspire people towards sustainable and green efforts. He said that there were more than 4000 hotels and many home-stays operating in the State.
These establishments and activities related to tourism adversely affect the environment, thus the State Government was also sensitive from the point of view of biodiversity, therefore, all kinds of pollution from industrial activities related to tourism would be controlled so that ecological balance was maintained at all cost.
Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh was a leading State in environment protection of the country, which from time to time takes many important steps for the protection of the environment. He said that Him-Griha Yojana was also a new effort which would encourage the tourism industry to adopt the sustainable development model.
He said that on the basis of self-certification, the Him-Griha scheme would verify that the tourism unit meets the environmental best standards and adopt eco-friendly initiatives such as waste management, recycling, waste minimization, resource conservation and energy efficiency.
He said that Coordination 2022 workshop was also being organized which would ensure that elected representatives and officials get detailed information about their role and responsibilities under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 which would result in better coordination and compliance of environmental norms and ensure the best solid waste to the participant
Additional Chief Secretary Finance Prabodh Saxena said that the programmes being organized today showed progressive steps being taken by the State Government. He said that the District Good Governance Index focuses on the strength of each district, identifies strong and weak areas for immediate improvement and measures progress by ranking the districts.
He said that the intent of the index was to provide information for the districts to act on and improve upon and it would also provide some insights to departments. Member Secretary State Pollution Control Board Apoorv Devgun welcomed the Chief Minister and other dignitaries present on the occasion. He thanked the Chief Minister for laying the foundation stone of the Regional Office Building at Mandi.