Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha attended the Back to Village programme today at Garkhal border village in Akhnoor.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, he observed that this participative Jan-Abhiyan promotes people-centric development for social transformation and focuses on improving the productivity of the rural J&K through increased ease of living.
Sinha said that people’s participation in development of border villages is significant for social advancement and unleashing the spirit of self-reliance.
“Back to Village provides an opportunity for effective planning, roadmap for execution with PRIs to fulfil the dream of Gram Swaraj”, he added.
Terming border villages as a strategic asset, the Lt Governor said the development of border villages is an essential precondition to build an inclusive society where there would be no discrimination and everyone enjoys equal share of opportunity.
Emphasising that one-size-fits-all approach will not be feasible for transforming rural areas because each village has its unique identity and requirements, he stressed that both administration and people must discuss and deliberate upon the aspirations of people and work on the projects that are viable and sustainable.
Saying that solutions to the crucial issues will come from the people, the Lt Governor directed the officers to interact with Gram Panchayat on first Monday of every month to understand the people’s problems, realize their strength and bridge the chasm between policy and implementation for transformation of rural landscape.
Noting that the days of indiscretion and arbitrariness are over, he said, “we have established fairness and transparency in the system to remove the development imbalances and to weed out nepotism and corruption. Today, a transparent system is giving boost to J&K’s economy and making its growth sustainable”.
“It is our firm resolve to improve the implementation on the ground. A lot has been achieved in the last three years with speedy implementation of the projects, and we continue to invest in schemes to make rural J&K self-reliant and to increase incomes by creating more self-employment opportunities at the local level,” Sinha said.
He further said that it is our endeavour to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to encourage the participation of all citizens to be part of the decision-making in order to steer the engine of development and change the socio-economic landscape of rural Jammu Kashmir.
“We have prioritised the development of rural & border areas. This year, 10 PRI, 5 MGNREGA, one BDC, one Samridh Seema Yojana & 23 projects under 14FC are in progress in Garkhal to improve the lives of people, fulfil their basic needs and to accelerate overall development”, he added.
