Reach out to people, mitigate their problems: CM to admn

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 24

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asked the administration to reach out to the people and focus on development and good governance. She also called for judicious use of the existing manpower and their capacity building to ensure better delivery of services.

“Our focus has to be on expediting development, ensuring good governance and providing a corruption-free administration,” the Chief Minister said while chairing a high-level meeting here this afternoon to review the progress of development projects in the Jammu region.

Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar, Financial Commissioner, Planning and Development, BB Vyas, Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Pramod Kumar Jain and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Kumar Choudhary were present at the meeting.

In the four-hour marathon meeting, the Chief Minister gave a detailed insight into the governance initiatives and good practices which can bring a positive change at the grass-roots level. She made it clear that her priority was the people and not politics or power.

“As long as I am here, I would spend every day in mitigating the sufferings of the people,” she said, adding that she will like her officers to become partners in this enterprise of hope so that the people get to feel the change.

Mehbooba said she was not satisfied with the present pace of delivery as there was still a huge gap in decision-taking and implementation on the ground. “All of us shall have to put our act together and make things move at the desired pace on the development front,” she said, adding that adequate resources are available both through the state plan and through the Prime Minister’s Development Programme for development.

“Only thing is to spend this money effectively and within the set time frame,” she said. She said in this endeavour she would need the support of the officers at the cutting-edge level.

Mehbooba said people had a lot of expectations from the present government and it was the responsibility of the government functionaries to come up to their expectations. “The ministers shouldn’t confine themselves to their constituencies or a particular region, but reach out to the people in every nook and corner of the state to mitigate the sufferings of the people,” she said. “Similarly, I would like my officers at various levels to reach out to the people and redress their grievances and problems effectively,” she added.

“Take timely action on issues of public importance, even by exercising suo motu powers, if required, with humanitarian approach,” she said.

Asking officers to adopt a systematic approach in solving public issues and ensuring speedy redress of their grievances, Mehbooba said the people were her eyes and ears, “and they acquaint me about the ground-level realities on a daily basis.”

She asked the government officials to work with focussed attention on the programmes related to women, youth and disadvantageous sections of society.

She reviewed the progress of the flagship institutional projects, including AIIMS, Jammu, and five new nursing colleges coming up at Kishtwar, Udhampur, Poonch, Kathua and Jammu. She also reviewed the progress of trauma hospitals, district hospitals, model hospitals and paramedical training Institutions.

The CM was informed that the new medical colleges coming up at Rajouri, Anantnag and Baramulla are targeted for completion by 2018.