Jammu and Kashmir: Govt to give fillip to rural economy, allocates Rs 4817 cr

As per the official documents accessed by the Greater Kashmir, the government has allocated an annual allocation of Rs 4817 crore for the rural sector for the 2021-2022 financial year. An official said the annual allocation has been enhanced to meet out the government commitments to develop the rural areas of the J&K Union Territory (UT).

Notably, the J&K Government last year held elections for the constitution of Block Development Councils (BDCs) and District Development Council (DDCs) with an aim to bring the governance at the grass root level.

Also, the government held three phases of the Back to Village program across J&K to take first-hand account of developmental issues in rural areas.

The outreach programs witnessed participation of around 4000 officers spending two days including night halt in Panchayats.

“The enhancement in the annual allocation is in line with that as the government is committed to take the developmental scenario of rural areas to the next level,” an official said.

“The government is committed to fulfill the demands made by the people in rural areas during the back to village programs,” he said.

The government is also mulling to send 700 elected representatives on exposure cum training visits in other States besides executing construction of 100 new Panchyat Ghars during the current financial year.

As per the official documents, the J&K Government has fixed a target to provide shelter to around 1.17 lakh families under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme during the current financial year.

“The shelter will be in the form of pucca houses to the eligible rural families who are living in dilapidated houses,” the official document reads.

The government is also mulling to revive the self help groups as it is planning to form 16000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) and 1600 Village Level Organizations during the current year.

“Around 24866 SHGs shall be provided revolving funds while and 46799 SHGs shall be provided community investment funds during 2021-22 under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM),” the official data reveals.

Besides other developmental work the government is planning to give fillip to the road connectivity in the rural areas as it has fixed a target to complete 130 rural connectivity works during 2021-22.

“The government will also introduce a mobile monitoring system for on-spot capturing of attendance of MGNREGA workers through mobile application,” the official document reads.

The government has also fixed a target to take up water conservation works as well as individual beneficiary oriented works with an aim to generate 350 crore person days during the current financial year.