Gov briefed on performance of Programme Implementation Dept
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 17 Aug: Secretary, Programme Implementation Department, Deepak Kumar (ITS) called on Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh (Retd) for a formal meeting to brief him about various government works at the Raj Bhawan, here, today.
During the meeting, the Governor highly appreciated the inspections by the district and divisional level officers as well as by the Secretaries being done on the ground under the guidelines given by the Chief Minister. He was also impressed with the onsite inspections being carried out by the CM, his ministers and the specially nominated officers during the Jansamvad and Jan Chaupal programmes.
Deepak Kumar informed the Governor that the ministers have sent the updated 19 reports to the Ministry of Finance and action has been taken on them, on which the Governor expressed satisfaction. The Governor also observed that just like the CM, he too has toured all the border districts of Uttarakhand, including many areas considered almost inaccessible. He had visited all the districts of the state and all the development blocks besides several villages.
During the interaction, the Governor also enquired about telecom connectivity and data centres. Kumar informed him that the IT Department of Uttarakhand is the nodal agency for telecom connectivity and the data centres and is working towards improving their performance and capacity. He added that he would seek detailed information in this regard from the department concerned and bring the same to the notice of the Governor.
The Governor was also told how the agriculture department would compile the plans of various departments and disseminate them to the general public through multipurpose camps. The Governor observed that he had also met the top officials from the 78 Central Institutions located in Uttarakhand. He would seek information from them too on what has been done by these institutions in the interest of the state and what they could do in the future.
The Secretary urged the Governor to invite the officials of the Agriculture Department during the presentations to be made by the top officers from the Central Institutes so that the general public could benefit from the multipurpose camps.
The Governor was of the opinion that more accessible and better health facilities, educational facilities, water, power, telecom and road connectivity could resolve the problems related to the general public to a large extent. He observed that, despite the fact that the government is doing appreciable work in this direction, all these actions need to be taken up by the departments concerned on a war footing.
Deepak Kumar also briefed the Governor about the functioning of the Programme Implementation Department. He said this department came into being in 2009 at the initiative of the then CM. The department has now included programmes and priorities listed by the CM for effective implementation of programmes like “Sarkaar Janata Ke Dwaar”, “Hamara Sankalp Anushashit Pradesh” and “Hamara Sankalp Bhayamukt Samaj”. Kumar added that, at present, there is no directorate in the department and only one section. He said that divisional level and district level officers regularly visit revenue villages to stay overnight and hear the problems of the people and resolve them. A team of divisional and district level officers is also conducting periodical inspections of the government offices to ensure greater discipline while the Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates or the officers nominated by them are also conducting inspections to oversee implementation of other programmes. Every month, a review is conducted by District Magistrates to control crimes under the programme, “Our resolution, fear free society”.
For the first time after 2012-13, a budget of Rs 100 as a token amount has been approved for the programme implementation cell in this financial year.
Kumar added that a Video conference/meeting was held with Divisional IGs/Commissioners and District Police Chiefs on 10 April for effective implementation of Hamara Sankalp Bhaymukt Samaj programme.
For effective implementation of all the three resolutions, a meeting was convened on 9 June with all the Divisional Commissioners/District Magistrates/Senior Superintendents of Police under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister. A committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary to revise all the guidelines related to the three resolutions according to the present circumstances. He also added that, to solve the problems at the village level itself, 8 ministers who are the ministers in charge of various districts visit under the Sarkar Janata Ke Dwar initiative. In all, 19 visits have been ensured under this programme. In the months of February, April, July and August, 2023, 4 special officers of the Programme Implementation Department have visited 56 development blocks and 165 gram panchayats of 12 districts (except Uttarkashi).
Major problems/complaints/suggestions received during the visits of the Ministers/Secretaries/Special Officers/District level officers have been collected department wise and sent to Ministers/Department Heads/District Magistrates for disposal. A task force has been constituted at the divisional level for quick redressal of complaints and letters have been sent to the district magistrates.
Informing the Governor about the proposed programmes, Kumar said that a portal was being prepared for this and the process of compiling all the public welfare/self-employment schemes run by all the departments is in progress.The process of planning multipurpose camps is also in progress, after which these will be organised every month in all the districts.
