ANANTNAG, MARCH 27: In the run up to the next fiscal, District Administration Anantnag organized a series of majlis (meetings) involving participation of PRIs from all three tiers and senior officials from the district administration.
The focus of these meetings was to strengthen participative democracy through interactions of ground level representatives and the executive machinery. The meetings encompassed discussion on plan formulations, implementation of development works, social audit of welfare schemes, wide dissemination of social benefits and promoting Jan Bhagidari in good governance initiatives.
The meetings saw participation of Chairman, District Development Council, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, DDC Council members, Addl. District Development Commissioner, Block Development Chairpersons, Asstt. Commissioner Development, Asstt. Commissioner Panchayat, Executive Engineer REW, BDOs, Sarpanches and Panches from all across the districts. Over a series of meetings, more than 200 people attended the Panchayati Majlis and shared their views on various aspects of development.
The Majlis acted as a preparatory forum for the PRIs to develop more clarity on developmental issues in the district for the UT Level PRI conference, an initiative of the Government of UT of J&K and for them to project ground level implementation requirements at the UT level conference. The PRIs, through detailed deliberation, identified priority and gap areas in various key development indicators and in discussion with district heads of various departments arrived on possible remedial measures that can be incorporated in the plans. At the UT level conference, the PRIs will have a chance to deliberate on policy level initiatives and put for appropriate suggestions that can easily translate into field action aimed at transformation of the local development landscape.
Several PRIs hailed the initiative of the district administration. They emphasized that they are aware of the local demands, however, their interaction with the district officials has expanded their horizon on possible interventions that can be tailored for specific gap areas. They said that learnings from the majlis regarding the implementation of the previous development plan will be used in formulating a broad based and priority-based development plan for the next fiscal.
The Deputy Commissioner said that the three tier Panchayati Raj system has been extremely effective in translating peoples’ genuine demands into development plans and them regularly following up to ensure the issue is addressed through execution of the plan. He said that he is hopeful that the interaction among PRIs and with administrative machinery during Majlis and in the upcoming UT level PRI conference will further refine the formulation and execution of development plans and eventually translate to prosperity for the common man.
