Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Sunday said that the Back to Village programme is an endeavour to realize the vision of Gram Swaraj as it facilitates communication, cooperation and coordination between government and the people.
Sinha made these remarks while addressing an event in connection with the ongoing Back to Village (B2V) programme at Sheikhpura area of Budgam district, an official press release said.
“Back to Village is the government’s endeavour to realize the vision of Gram Swaraj, and facilitate communication, cooperation and coordination between government and the people,” said the LG.
“More than 25,000 officers are making field visits across the UT to receive feedback from the public on various schemes being implemented by the government. The visiting officers will ensure 100 percent saturation of welfare schemes and achieve the targets of self-employment and skill development,” he added.
“Progress and prosperity of the common man, doorstep delivery of government services and establishing peace are the priorities of the government,” the LG observed.
“For decades, corruption flourished in service delivery and had widened the gap between people’s expectations and implementation. It is our utmost duty, our ultimate responsibility to bridge the gaps between public expectations and government delivery mechanisms. We are determined to bring transparency, accountability and inclusiveness in the governance system to meet the people’s aspirations,” the LG said.
“With deliverables reaching the doorsteps of the people, every officer, common citizen and public representatives who are the driving forces of good governance must turn this Back to Village initiative into an opportunity for economic development and social change of rural J&K,” he observed.
“This spirit of Back to Village should be nurtured and further strengthened in our culture to make Jammu Kashmir a living example of equal rights, equal opportunities,” the LG added.
The LG also said that the action-oriented deliverables of B2V-IV with the realistic assessment of the ground realities are aimed at connecting youth with self-employment and skill development programmes, strengthening the foundation of Panchayati Raj institutions, making every panchayat drug-free and ensuring that the last man in the queue reaps the benefit of government schemes.
“The UT government has brought a new revolution in youth empowerment in the last two years. From job seekers, today our youth have become job providers,” the LG said.
He assured support and financial assistance for every youth who aspires to be an entrepreneur and wants to start his or her own business enterprise.
Under the ongoing B2V programme, “we have set a target to identify 15 youth from every panchayat for self employment assistance and 20 youth from every panchayat for skill training,” he informed.
The LG urged the public representatives to play their important role in making the youth a partner in the development process, besides building a harmonized society.
“Peace is the only way to usher into a bright and prosperous future. Society must identify and isolate the divisive forces and their sympathizers who, on behalf of neighboring country are trying to create a sense of fear by targeting innocent civilians,” said the LG.
The LG asked the visiting officers to take feedback from the people regarding the functioning of village-level workers and Patwari offices. He also underlined the need to make collective efforts towards achieving “Nasha Mukt and Swachh Panchayats”.
The LG appealed to the youth to not get addicted with online gaming and further called for spreading awareness against online gambling.
Nazir Ahmad Khan, chairman, District Development Council, Budgam, while speaking on the occasion, expressed gratitude to the LG-led UT administration for doorstep delivery of public services and reaching out to the people through initiatives like B2V, the press release said.
S.F Hamid, Deputy Commissioner Budgam gave a detailed briefing on the efforts of the district administration to saturate the deliverables of the fourth edition of the B2V.
During his visit, the LG inspected the stalls and counters set up by different departments for extending public services and spreading awareness of government schemes.
The LG also distributed wheelchairs, hearing aids, sports kits, land passbooks, sanction letters among beneficiaries of various schemes.
Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir; Vijay Kumar ADGP Kashmir; Tahir Saleem, SSP Budgam, besides Ghulam Hassan Khan, BDC chairman Budgam, PRI members, senior officers, youth and people in large numbers were present on the occasion.