Dr Piyush Singla assumes charge of Secretary, PD&MD; assesses departmental working

Jammu, Oct 10: Dr. Piyush Singla, assumed the charge of Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department (PD&MD) here Tuesday.
After assuming the charge, Dr. Piyush Singla, chaired a meeting of officers of the department and Directorate of Economics and Statistics, J&K, at Civil Secretariat, Jammu.
The Kashmir based officers attended the meeting through virtual mode.
A detailed presentation was presented to Dr. Piyush Singla apprising him of the functions of Planning, Development and Monitoring Department.
Director General, Economics and Statistics, informed the Secretary that the DPCs have been convened both at Gazetted as well Non-Gazetted level and a number of officers have been promoted to the higher ranks.
The administration section of PD&MD informed Dr. Piyush Singla about the ongoing initiatives, Court Cases, RTI Cases, SRO-43/ RAS Cases, Grievances and other administrative issues. The Physical/ Financial progress of Centrally Sponsored Schemes / Centre Sector Schemes like BADP, PMDP, RMIS was also presented to the Secretary.
The status of programmes like Pro Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), Project Monitoring Group (Central/ UT), E-Smiksha, Prime Minister’s Reconstruction 20 Points Programme, Aspirational District/ Block/ Panchayat Programmes, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), District Good Governance Index (DGGI) and Departmental Deliverables was also highlighted.
DG, E&S apprised the Secretary that the Department undertakes 100 % physical verification of completed works, evaluation studies of schemes/ projects, peak harvesting prices, Index of Industrial Production (IIP), Economic Census, State Domestic Product/ District Domestic Product, Civil Registration System (CRS), KAP Surveys etc.
Secretary, while addressing the officers and officials, asked them to lay special emphasis on Data Analysis, Orientation/Training Programmes, Capacity Building Programmes and sharing the price data with the Deputy Commissioners on fortnightly basis. He stated that Planning Cadre officers are performing their role effectively in plan formulation, data capturing and evaluation. He also said that Sustainable Development Goals are an essential component of planning process and more emphasis should be laid on it.
Director General Planning, Director Finance in Planning Department, Special Secretary Planning, Joint Directors Planning and other senior officers of the department were present in the meeting.