Raja Syed Rather
Srinagar, Mar 29: Stating that over 33000 posts have been referred to recruitment agencies in Jammu & Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said that the improved law and order in the union territory has paved way for the highest-ever tourist footfall last year.
Addressing a news conference, he said that the law and order situation in J&K has improved considerably in the last three years bringing a record 1.88 crore tourists to J&K last year.
“The situation has improved to an extent that cinemas have opened again, restaurants, hotels, Shikaras and other places are witnessing huge rush of people in the late evening hours. The schools remain open, the shops remain open,” Sinha said.
Claiming that the unemployment rate has reduced marginally in J&K, the Lt Governor said that 33426 posts have been referred to recruitment agencies.
He said that after the allegations of irregularities came to the fore in the three recruitment processes, the case was handed over to the CBI for further investigation and the agency involved in conducting exams was also removed.
“A tender was made in a transparent manner through which the APTECH, a company, was selected for conducting exams. However, the case in this regard has been pending in the court and thus the government decided to wait for the orders from the High Court to move ahead. We want to make it clear to the people that no guilty involved in irregularities shall go unpunished. The government will ensure all the recruitments for the jobs in a transparent manner,” he said.
“25450 selections have been made including 2436 selections of J&K Bank Limited. Around 2,02,749 youth have been covered under various self-employment schemes and the target is to cover 2, 37,000 by the end of the current year. Next year around 3 lakh will be covered under all the self-employment schemes,” he said.
The Lt Governor said that J&K has received the highest-ever investment of Rs 1547.87 crore during the last 10 months, adding that a total of 500 startups have come up during the last three years as well.
He added that Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an economic growth of 14.64 per cent last year while 31 per cent growth was recorded in tax revenue in the union territory.
Sinha further stated that the developmental works have gained pace in J&K since the financial year 2018-19, saying that in 2020-21, a total of 21943 have been completed against 9228 works in 2018-19.
“In 2021-22, 50627 works have been completed and this year we expect 70,000 works to be completed. This is the paradigm shift in the pace of development in J&K over the last three to four years,” he said.
Road construction nearly doubled to 3200 kilometres against 1500-1600 Km in 2018, he said, adding that J&K has been among top performers in the country for implementation of schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Amrit Sarovar, SVAMITVA Scheme, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Nasha Mukt Abhiyan and Renewable Energy Development. Most of the social security schemes have been saturated in J&K.
Under “My Youth My Pride, Har Din Khel Har Ek Kay Liye Khel” nearly 50 lakh youth have participated in different sports activities this year, he informed.
“Under Digital J&K initiative, 445 online services are being provided through e-UNNAT portal. 225 e-services have been integrated with Rapid Assessment System for real time feedback on quality of service delivery. All the online services have been linked with the Public Service Guarantee Act in J&K,” the Lt Governor said.
J&K is the first among States/Union Territories to have District Good Governance Index for assessing the public service delivery at district level. Aspirational Panchayat Development Programme, Aspirational Block Development Programme and Aspirational Town Development Programme are the three new initiatives being implemented in J&K, he said. (KNO)
