Focus on people-centric governance: Governor to Administration

On his first day in Secretariat Governor lists priority areasfor immediate action

SRINAGAR, AUGUST 30:Governor Shri Satya Pal Malik today called for giving a renewed push to the “Mission on Delivering Governance” and “Mission on Delivering Development” to bring Jammu and Kashmir back on course.

“Our collective priority should be to reach-out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to mitigate their problems through good governance and address their developmental concerns with outcome-based action,” Governor said at the introductory meeting with his Advisors, B B Vyas, K Vijay Kumar & Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, Director General of Police, Dr S P Vaid, Principal Secretary to the Governor, Umang Narulaand all the Administrative Secretaries at the Governor’s Secretariat here this morning.

Governor made it clear to the officers that he has no political agenda and wants to just serve the people of the State, in whatever way possible. “What Jammu and Kashmir needs, is a sincere outreach to redress the day-to-day problems of the people,” he said and added that shortly after he reached Srinagar last week, he received a complaint of waterlogging in colonies around Mustafabad, HMT on the outskirts of Srinagar. “I gave instructions for tackling the problem immediately. This may be a small gesture, but people appreciated it as they felt that their writ is running now,” he said.

Hailing J&K’s civil and police administration for working tirelessly for the welfare of the people amid challenging situation, Governor said the state administration needs to function with renewed efficiency, speed and accountability and deliver quick results on the ground on developmental and governance fronts so that the people get the much-needed relief and feel visible change.

Stressing the need for ensuring rapid, people-centric governance, Governor enumerated the short and long-term measures to be taken to achieve this objective. He said strengthening and expansion of grievance redressal mechanism, timely execution of developmental projects, public outreach, attendance in offices, strengthening anti-corruption mechanism, expediting recruitment process/SRO-43 cases & regularization under SRO-520, intensifying anti-encroachment drive, improving traffic management, augmenting power supply & availability of potable water, supplementing human resource in health and educational institutions, conservation of water bodies, effective flood mitigation and creating career progression avenues for officers/officials at every levelwill be the priority areas for the administration in the first instance.

He said instructions have already been passed for setting up Grievance Cells in the offices of all the Deputy Commissioners across the State with a designated Nodal Officer. “The Deputy Commissioners will dedicate one day every week exclusively for hearing public grievances and ensuring appropriate redressal,” Governor said and added that the Advisors and other Government functionaries shall be regularly visiting various parts of the State to ensure on-the-spot redress of public grievances.

“Focus has to be on working through transparency and consultation to promote a culture of excellence in governance characterized by integrity and highest standards of deliverance,” he said and added that judicious and productive use of resources has to be ensured so that the funds are utilized according to priorities.

Governor said he will be always available personally to address any issue facing the administration in the smooth discharge of their duties. “I will be also available to public to listen to their grievances,” he said and added that most of the times people have genuine small issues which can be addressed immediately and it leaves a huge impact on public psyche.

Recognizing that J&K police is making huge sacrifices for maintaining peace and rule of law in the State, Governor expressed grief over the killing of four policemen at Shopian yesterday. He said acknowledging the role of the J&K Police, the Government will be announcing a slew of welfare measures for the force shortly.

The Advisors and the Chief Secretary briefed the Governor in detail about the administrative and developmentalmeasures being taken to accomplish the “Mission on Delivering Governance” and “Mission on Delivering Development”.

The Chief Secretary informed the Governor that he will come across one of the finest lot of officers in J&K both from, within and outside the State, who are working very efficiently on every front. 

Earlier, on his arrival at the Civil Secretariat, Governor was presented the ceremonial Guard of Honor by a contingent of J&K Police.

Advisors to Governor, B B Vyas, K Vijay Kumar & Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, Director General of Police, Dr S P Vaid, Financial Commissioners and Administrative Secretaries received the Governor at the Civil Secretariat.