Gram Sabhas are mini-parliaments in rural areas, urges people to actively participate
Bandipora 08 October (KNB): District Development Commissioner Bandipora, Dr. Owais Ahmad, Wednesday conducted an extensive tour of Gurez Valley as part of phase 3rd of the ambitious ‘Back to Village’ programme.
DDC Bandipora reviewed the developmental activities, assessed the developmental needs and also interacted with the locals and representatives of the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) besides participating in Gram Sabhas.
Dr. Owais visited several villages of Gurez Block and later visited Baduab, Sardab, Badugam and Chakwali villages of Tulail Block to inspect the ongoing activities under Back to Village Programme besides inspecting ongoing works at Purana Tulail and Tulail villages.
On the occasion, DDC Bandipora directed the officers to expedite the work on ongoing projects and work extra hours to meet the deadline. He said there is a limited working season in the Gurez Valley due to which the officers need to work extra hours to complete the works before the onset of winter in the region.
He also reviewed the availability of essential commodities including ration, fuel and cooking gas. He urged the officers to stock ample quantities of essentials for the upcoming winter so that people do not face problems during tough weather conditions.
DDC also participated in the ongoing Gram Sabhas in several Panchayats and interacted with the representatives of PRIs and the locals who turned up to attend the Gram Sabhas.
While interacting with the people, DDC said called for strengthening democracy at the grassroots level saying that Gram Sabhas are like mini Parliaments in rural areas. He said the people of a particular area have to decide themselves which development works are to be taken up in their village.
He said the Gram Sabhas should play a vibrant role in effective execution of the developmental programmes by taking advantage of the flagship schemes like. He said involving the unemployed youth in fruitful and remunerative activities would not only help in income generation but also keep them away from anti-social activities like the menacing drug abuse.
During the Public interaction, the locals apprised him about various issues faced by them especially during the winter when Gurez Valley remains cut off from the rest of the world. The Deputy Commissioner gave patient hearing to the people and passed on-spot directions for early redressal of several grievances and assured the people that he will personally look into all the issues flagged by the people.DDC reiterated that the main aim and objective of this outreach programme is to take on spot appraisal of issues that the local population faces and assured that the district administration will try its best to resolve all the issues forthwith. (KNB)