Ladakh L-G asks dept secys to spend allocated funds

Jammu, March 2

Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Brig BD Mishra (retd) held a review meeting with Department Secretaries to discuss ongoing and pending project and grievances faced by the public concerning their respective departments.

At the meeting, the L-G highlighted the need to submit plans for works under various schemes for the next financial year by the first week of March so that funds could be allocated at the earliest for completing the said works under the schemes or punitive action would be taken against the erring officials.

He asked Adviser Pawan Kotwal to instruct the concerned Department Secretaries to spend funds allocated by the Centre for various project works. He also asked Adviser to review the expenses made by the Public Works Department (PWD) till the financial year 2023-24 is over on a daily basis.

The L-G also discussed several other issues including the need to complete work on remaining recruitment rules for gazetted posts and putting them in the public domain for feedback from the public; the need to take necessary action in the purchase and sale of sugar for distribution under public distribution system (PDS); the need to dispose of SRO-43 cases based on the merit and condition of the family members of the deceased person, who passed away during active service; the need to promote sea buckthorn and other Ladakhi products at the Brand Ladakh Emporium at Delhi and check the shelf life of the products periodically.

He also discussed the need to put building construction norms in place even in rural areas of Ladakh and the power delegated to Leh and Kargil DCs to issue NOC for the same; the need to take necessary steps to achieve saturation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) at the earliest along with its operation and maintenance (O&M); the need to write to Government of India regarding the exclusion of the four non-Ladakhi tribes from the list of Scheduled Tribes recently notified through a gazette among other issues.

The LG also directed Ladakh Police to make wearing helmets mandatory for two-wheelers in Ladakh. He also asked Leh DC, who is the chairperson of District Subordinate Services Recruitment Board (DSSRB), to prepare subject-specific question papers and not general question papers for subject-specific posts advertised by the Board for recruitment purposes.