Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a meeting at Civil Secretariat to review the progress of preparation of Panchayat Development Index (PDI) in Jammu and Kashmir. Secretary, Rural Development Department and Panchayati Raj, Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Director General Rural Sanitation, Anu Malhotra, Secretary in RDD, Director RDD and other concerned officials attended the meeting in person and virtually.
The meeting focused on various indicators being used to evaluate panchayats’ performance across different development parameters including the configuration of mandatory and optional indicators, data verification processes and field office updates. Besides, the progress on data point configuration for locked indicators, District Confidence Frames (DCFs) published by J&K, and the PDI portal being opened for data entry was also reviewed.
Further, discussions were held on the weight assigned to each indicator and its significance in formulation of this index. Moreover, data collection formats sent to line departments, and development of dashboards for both Kashmir and Jammu divisions also came up for deliberations. Dulloo emphasized the importance of close coordination among departments to ensure timely data updates on the PDI portal for all districts.
Additionally, the performance distribution across districts since January 2024 was also examined during the meeting. The meeting also reviewed the status of achieving ODF+ Model category by the villages of J&K under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G). Director General Rural Sanitation, Anu Malhotra, presented a detailed report highlighting key achievements in this regard.
The meeting discussed door-to-door garbage collection status, Annual Implementation Plan 2024-25, SBM funds utilization status, Swachhata Green Leaf rating for hospitality facilities and legacy waste management initiatives besides challenges faced along with possible solutions worth implementing by the department.