Lt Governor approves Rs 22,126.93 Cr for JK’s development

Jammu, Apr 23: In yet another historic decision, Rs. 22,126.93 Cr District Capex Budget 2022-23, more than 75% since last year, has been approved for the equitable development of the UT.
The unprecedented District Capex Budget for all 20 districts was approved during a high-level meeting, chaired by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha here at the Civil Secretariat.
Highlighting the key features of the District Capex Budget, the Lt Governor observed that the Plan has been finalized by adopting a Bottom-up approach with active involvement of Panchayats, BDCs, and DDCs. The key objective of District Plan is the empowerment of Panchayati Raj System and to strengthen grass root level democracy through participatory management, he added.
In order to strengthen PRIs, Rs. 1000 Cr has been allocated for Panchayats, Rs. 200 Cr for DDCs and Rs. 71.25 Cr for BDCs, the Lt Governor observed.
The Lt Governor further said that it was with the active participation of PRIs, we were able to achieve record-breaking milestone of completing 51,891 projects in the last F.Y. ‘These achievements are unprecedented and would not have been possible without dedication and teamwork of the PRIs, officials and other stakeholders. Timely completion of target is key to transformation’, he added.
The Lt Governor observed that J&K administration has made ‘Jan Bhagidari’ the cornerstone of project planning and execution process. For the first time, after the detailed deliberations, a plan has been prepared with collective efforts of the PRIs and the administration, aptly reflecting the developmental aspirations of our people.
“Our aim is to make development a powerful people’s movement. We are working to ensure people belonging to deprived section enjoy social justice, equality and the last man on the socio-economic ladder receives equal opportunity”, the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor further called upon all stakeholders to maintain the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the District plan, besides focusing on key areas of Youth engagement; upgrading the health infrastructure & patient care system; improving quality of Education; strengthening of basic amenities; timely implementation of R&B, RDD projects which will collectively result in raising the socio-economic status of our people.
It was informed that keeping in view the needs in the rural areas, Rs. 10914.08 Crore under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Rs. 3814.42 Crore under MGNREGA, Rs. 1529.59 Crore under PMAY-G, Rs. 2001.12 Crore under Pardhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) and Rs. 47.53 Crore under Border Area Development Programme (BADP), have been earmarked during 2022-23.
Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department gave details of the district-wise Capex budget via a Powerpoint presentation and explained the components of the budgets for respective districts.
Besides, Chairpersons of District Development Councils and PRI members; Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lt Governor; Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; R K Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor, Administrative Secretaries; Divisional Commissioners; Deputy Commissioners, Heads of the Departments, and other senior officers attended the meeting, in person and through virtual mode.