Srinagar: Over 14000 events are going to be organised across all districts of Jammu and Kashmir with events at Panchayats, Patwar Khanas, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), tehsils, and districts. Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta Monday called for redressal of every public grievance by the end of Vigilance Week in October.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that in presence of Administrative Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioner (DCs), and other officers, the chief secretary kick-started the week long ‘Bhrashtachar Mukt J&K’ campaign here across all the districts of J&K.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that J&K made remarkable progress in ensuring transparency and accountability, and there was a need to institutionalise it so that it becomes intrinsic to the system.
Mehta said that the initiatives taken during the recent past had reinforced the trust of people in the governance.
He recalled that unlike the present system, there was earlier a system of giving contracts without going for tendering process or appointing people without going for due recruitment process.
“Implementation of measures like BEAMS, e-tendering, seeking of Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction have resulted in establishing financial discipline which has resulted in phenomenal increase in the number of projects being completed, from merely 9000 projects during 2018-19 to 92,000 during 2022-23 with nearly same expenditure,” the chief secretary said.
He said that IT interventions had brought about more transparency where all details of projects and services were being put in public domain.
“Through RTI and Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA), citizens who seek their rights, have been empowered, as guaranteed under law. The accessibility of people to project their grievances before senior functionaries and their timely disposals have been greatly facilitated through IGRAMS and JKGRAMS portals,” Mehta said.
He complimented team J&K for their untiring efforts for taking J&K to the top performing states and union territories in the country.
While directing all the Prabhari Officers to visit their concerned panchayat at least once during this week, the chief secretary asked the Incharge Secretaries of the districts to intensively monitor the activities carried out under the Bhrashtachar Mukt J&K in their concerned districts.
Mehta further advised the DCs to fully involve all representatives of Urban and Rural Local Bodies in this intensive campaign against corruption.
Earlier, Commissioner Secretary, GAD, Sanjeev Verma gave an overview of the activities planned during the week as well as about the improvement in the overall working of the government which had been made possible through slew of measures taken in the recent past.
Later, the chief secretary visited Lal Chowk to participate in the function being organised by the Srinagar Smart City on the theme ‘Digital J&K, Digital Srinagar’.