Directs to expedite forest clearance cases
Vijyender Sharma
SHIMLA-------Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur directed the officers of the state government to adopt pro-active approach towards effective implementation of the developmental schemes so that the fixed targets could be achieved in a stipulated time period. He was presiding over the first meeting of "Him Vikas Samiksha" meeting, held here today.
The Chief Minister said that the Him Vikas Samiksha is the unique initiative of the state government which aims at constant reviewing of progress of the ongoing developmental projects besides expediting the pace of development. He said that 103 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) have been set for 21 departments of the state besides four common KPIs for 26 departments. This is a holistic programme to review the working of the government departments as a whole instead of individual departmental reviews. Online reporting is being done in place of the manual reporting for accelerating the pace development, he added.
Jai Ram Thakur directed Public Works department to develop work management and information system so that all the works of the department could be displayed online. He said that special stress should be laid on expediting the cases of Forest Rights Act (FRA) and Forest Conservation Act (FCA) so that the developmental projects do not suffer due to want of forest clearances. Apart from ensuing time bound completion of projects, major stress must be laid on quality construction.
He said that emphasis should be laid on completion of those projects where up to sixty per cent of above works have been completed. There should be no compromise on quality construction and laxity on the part of constructors and officials would be viewed seriously, he said.
The Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh is the second state after Sikkim in respect of providing piped drinking water to households. The Irrigation and Public Health department must ensure that the safe drinking water be supplied to the people particularly in the rural areas in order to avoid spread of water borne diseases. He also felt the need to provide irrigation facilities to maximum farm lands which would not only motivate the farmers to go for cultivation of alternative cash crops but also help in doubling the farm income by next three years.
While expressing concern over no visible major change in farming pattern despite completion of several major irrigation projects, the Chief Minister said that farmers should be motivated for going for cultivation of cash crops to make them economically viable.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the Agriculture department should lay stress on post harvesting management and food processing so as to ensure value addition to the produce of the farmers. This would go a long way in increasing the farmer's income by ensuring them remunerative prices of their produce. He said that natural farming must be encouraged so that Himachal could become a natural farming state of the country. He said that efforts should be made on creating employment and self-employment opportunities in the agriculture sector. He said that emphasis should also be laid on increasing milk production to supplement the farmers' income.
The Chief Minister said that endeavours should be aimed at providing vocational and job oriented education so that the youth get ample opportunities of employment and self employment. He said that the increase in learning outcome must be ensured so that the State could lead the country in field of education. He said that despite being a small state, Himachal Pradesh has done commendable work in the education sector and the government is spending about 20 per cent of the state budget on this vital sector.
He said that being a welfare state, efforts must be made on ensuring social justice to all. He said that over 5,34,000 people are being provided social security pension in the state with almost no pendency. He emphasised that special information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns must be launched in order to ensure effective implementation of various ICDS. Health, nutrition and anaemia are the major areas of concern where the department must give added thrust to get desired results, he added.
Jai Ram Thakur said that Himcare and Ayushman Bharat scheme are proving boon to the people of the state in providing treatment to the patients of poor and needy families. He directed to improve numbers of institutional deliveries besides mitigating infant mortality rate in the state.
He said that due to effective tax management, the tax collection would be higher in the state as compared to the last year collection by about 15 to 20 percent. He said that the GST collection of the state is very low, which is a matter of concern.
Chief Secretary B.K. Agarwal assured the Chief Minister that every effort would be made to come up to the expectations and aspirations of the people of the state as well as the government.
Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Dr. Shrikant Baldi conducted the proceedings of the meeting and apprised about various targets in different components under different departments.
Special Secretary to Chief Minister D.C. Rana presented vote of thanks.
Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries and Heads of Departments and senior officers of the government attended the meeting.
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