The second phase of Government’s flagship ‘Back to Village’ (B2V2) outreach programme aimed to provide governance at the doorsteps of the rural populace and to enlist community participation commenced across the Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
The week-long public outreach campaign would be more intense than the earlier phase as itshall mainly focus on empowering Panchayats, follow up of B2V1, 100 per centcoverage of beneficiary oriented schemes and doubling income of rural people bygiving more impetus to the rural economy.
The programme will see more than 5000 gazetted officers and657 UT and Directorate Level officers visit their assigned Panchayats toreceive the first-hand appraisal reports at the grassroots level about thedevelopmental works. The officers shall prepare a report card and critical gapanalysis at the end of their 2-day visit to a village on a pre-circulatedformat.
Lieutenant Governor, Advisors, Chief Secretary and othersenior officers will be visiting various Halqa Panchayats in both Kashmir andJammu Divisions between 25 to 30 November.
One of the primaryobjectives of the B2V-2, which represents institutionalization of ‘Back toVillage’ programme, is to handhold the Panchayats and to assist them whereverthey face any impediments in using the funds devolved for development based onlocal priorities to further strengthen grassroots democracy and participatorydevelopment.
The programme will also assess the progress of resolution ofpriority issues of a Panchayat for which Rs 5 Crore have already been releasedto each District. Emphasis will also be laid on creating awareness in the AppleDistricts of Kashmir Division during the Programme about the Special MarketIntervention Price Scheme for procurement of Apple crop.
Every line department has been assigned a specific role toplay during this government initiative and the frontline workers of eachdepartment shall proactively participate in this unique effort to energizePanchayats to realize a total transformation in the rural profile.
The week-long activity will primarily witnessGovernment-public interactions, inaugurations of development works, awarenessprogrammes on welfare schemes and effects of Single-use plastic, convening ofGram Sabhas, public grievances redressal camps besides seeking publicsuggestions and feedback.