POONCH — Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today visited Poonch where he inaugurated and laid foundation stone of several projects worth Rs.195 cores to accelerate the development of 229 Panchayats of the district.
On his arrival, the Lt Governor inaugurated Hockey Astro Turf at the Shaheed DySP Manjeet Singh memorial Government Higher Secondary School and a Boxing hall at the Sports Stadium and dedicated the facilities to the youth and sportspersons of the District.
During his visit to the border district, the Lt Governor launched projects worth Rs. 78.80 Crores for the welfare of tribal community and observed that several infrastructure projects, including bridge, roads, power sub-stations, smart class rooms, model villages will spearhead the cause of sustainable rural development.
14 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras will create local facilities for value addition to traditional forest products and empower tribal community. Various other benefits extended to small farmland owners, people living in border villages will infuse a sense of self-confidence, said the Lt Governor.
Addressing the people of the District who were gathered at the Sports Stadium in large numbers, the Lt Governor said, “It is our firm resolve to strengthen the connectivity in border villages. 14 road projects worth Rs. 50 crore launched today will bring prosperity and help in overall development of the area”.
20 mobile towers and a Trauma Centre to come up soon in Poonch, announced the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor highlighted that in the last two years, the administration has tried diligently to ensure that the benefits of infrastructure and social welfare reach even the remotest villages of this border district.
Last year, a total of 1734 projects were completed in Poonch which exceeded the target set in the district capex. This year, under district capex budget, Rs 924 crore was allocated to the district for development works and out of 1412 projects taken up this year, 80% work will be completed by 31 October, it was informed.
The Lt Governor also paid homage to Padma Shri Smt. Mali- a female member of Gujjar Community who saved Poonch in 1971 war on the occasion. As a tribute to Smt. Mali’s invaluable contribution to the country, Govt Degree College, Mandi will be named after her, he further announced.
“Effective steps shall be taken by the district administration to make young generations aware of her inspiring saga”, the Lt Governor added.
The Lt Governor said, Poonch is our pride and several steps are being taken to transform its ecological richness and evolve innovative and ecologically sustainable ways of promoting tourism that will provide greater thrust to other economic activities.
As a significant step towards tapping the immense tourism potential of the district, the project of tourist infrastructure development of Noori Chhamb under PMDP was also inaugurated today.
Observing that Tribal community awaited social justice for years, the Lt Governor said under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, various schemes have been implemented in Jammu and Kashmir and today every tribal family has been granted their long due constitutional rights.
Under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program, (PMEGP), skill development for tribal youth has been started in Poonch and two batches of training have been completed. The Government is bearing the expenses of the Coaching for young boys and girls of the tribal community for the Civil Services, J&K Administrative Service examination, NEET, JEE examination, it was informed.
The Lt Governor announced that there will be no shortage of funds for those youths who aspire to become entrepreneurs.
In Poonch last year, as many as 1479 young boys & girls have been made entrepreneurs and they have also provided employment to more than 3500 people. This year also we have set a target to make 1062 youth entrepreneurs. Under the Mumkin program of Mission Youth, 97 vehicles have been distributed among the youth and under Tejaswini Yojana, we are moving towards fulfilling the dream of 300 girls to become entrepreneurs, noted the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor said the special focus of administration is on development of border villages by ensuring effective implementation of projects under BADP, Samridh Seema Yojana and Aspirational Block. 55 projects of Samridh Seema Yojna and 11 projects of Aspirational Block have been approved and their tendering process is going on, he observed.
Addressing the demands of the public representatives and people of Poonch, the Lt Governor assured that Mendhar, Poonch Mini Secretariat will be completed soon. Power capacity of various areas of Poonch including Chandak, Mendhar, Loran will also be augmented to cater to the needs of the people.
We are working on the principle of “Governance for all” and not for a select few. Dedicated efforts are being made to establish Corruption free, Drug Free & Job-oriented society, said the Lt Governor.
No more sale of Jobs will be allowed in J&K. All the culprits in the alleged irregularities in recruitment examination of Sub-Inspector, Financial Account Assistant and Junior Engineer will be punished severely, added the Lt Governor.
Tazeem Akther, DDC Chairperson, while speaking on the occasion, expressed gratitude to the Lt Governor led UT Government for taking reformative measures for the holistic development of J&K.
Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, in his address, congratulated the people of Poonch for the new projects initiated for the overall development of the District.
Inder Jeet, Deputy Commissioner Poonch delivered the welcome address and Advocate Sunil Sharma, President MC Poonch presented the Vote of Thanks.
Later, the Lt Governor handed over sanction letters to various beneficiaries under several schemes and also inspected stalls installed by various stakeholders on the occasion.
Artists displayed Pahari and Gojri culture through their impressive performances.
The Rs 45 crore worth projects inaugurated by Lt Governor today include- Hockey Astro Turf at HSS Poonch costing Rs 5 cr; construction of Boxing Hall building at Sports Stadium Poonch worth Rs 30 lakh; development of Noori Chamb as Tourist Spot, Buffliaz in Surankote at a cost of Rs 3.95 cr; 50m span Bridge at Behramgala costing Rs 2.17 cr; Government Degree College Auditorium Building at Poonch at a cost of Rs 4.55 cr; Bridge at Mendhar under CRF costing Rs 13.40 cr; Government Middle School Jaranwali Gali Mendhar and Nari under JTFRP worth Rs 99 lakh and 1.14 cr respectively; road from Ratti Jabri to Lower Sanjote via Kachar Mohalla Qazian costing Rs 2.19 cr; improvement of road from Chandak to Shri Budha Amarnathji Shrine Mandi at a cost of Rs 11.66 cr.
Projects worth Rs 151.23 cr for which Lt Governor laid the foundation stone include- Construction of Residential accommodation of District Development Council/ PRIs at Poonch worth Rs 7.25 cr, DDC office Poonch at a cost of Rs 2.57 cr, BDC office buildings at Buffliaz & Mendhar costing Rs 97 lakhs each; 14 road projects under NABARD worth Rs 50 cr; Construction of Gujjar & Bakerwal Hostels at Surankote, Mendhar, Loran & Mankote costing 3.75 cr each; 49 Model Villages under PMAAGY worth 49 cr; Cluster Model Village convergence with PMAAGY at a cost of Rs 10 cr; creation of Power Sub-Stations costing Rs 1.50 cr; Smart Class Rooms in schools in Tribal areas costing Rs 1.20 cr; 14 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras worth Rs 2.10 cr and PMKSY WDC 2.0 projects costing Rs 10.65 cr
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Mukesh Singh, ADGP Jammu; Ramesh Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Jammu; Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Secretary to Government, Tribal Affairs Department; PRI members, people, especially the youth in large nnumbers.