Combating Covid19
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) 500-bedded Covid Hospital at Khonmoh, Srinagar. It was completed in 17 days in a building that already existed. Housing all the requisite modern facilities, the centrally Air-conditioned facility has the capacity for 125 ICU beds, out of which 25 are reserved for children and 375 beds with 24-hour oxygen connectivity. 10 bedded Triage area has also been built in 100 sqm. The Covid care facility will fully start its operations once the trial run of all the medicare facilities is completed. Some interventions include continuous augmentation of ICU and Oxygen supported beds, deployment of former medical staff and fast track deployment of newly qualified staff, decentralization of health system through Panchayat Covid Care Centres and starting an accelerated vaccination drive.
A 25-bedded Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) has also been established in the facility. This facility will use the compressed oxygen for patients, unlike other hospitals where they have oxygen generation plants.
Powering Rural Areas
Jammu and Kashmir government said a grant of Rs 1576.96 crore has been sanctioned for distribution projects under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) to strengthen the rural power supply system projects. Also, Rs 1538.98 crore has been sanctioned for projects in urban areas. These include projects under Flagship CSS such as DDUGJY and IPDS and also special support to Jammu and Kashmir under the Prime Minister’s Development Programme (PMDP). These projects include the creation of substations, augmentation of existing stations as well as strengthening of other infrastructure, new HT lines, AB cabling and other improvements.
A meeting in this regard was chaired by Principal Secretary PDD, Rohit Kansal. The meeting also held detailed discussions over the issues vis-a-vis status of projects sanctioned with current execution level, the timeline for completion, augmentation, feeder segregation, Sub-Station Augmentation Transformer, the status of 33KV and 11KV HT Lines and other issues involved in various PDD projects in both Jammu and Kashmir divisions.
Under the Street Lighting Project taken under PMDP, the meeting was also informed that 24 works have been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 21 crore and up-gradation of electrical infrastructure at shrines in Urban areas and towns sanctioned under PMDP-Urban/Rural an amount of Rs 1392 lakh sanctioned for 29 shrines, of which 24 shrines have been completed.
Oxygenating J&K
Jammu and Kashmir Government received a fresh consignment of nine Medical Oxygen Generation Plants at the Srinagar Airport. The state-of-the-art Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Oxygen Generation plants, manufactured in Europe, were airlifted from Frankfurt, Germany. Pertinently, the earlier consignment of seven plants was also brought in by the Air Force on May 17. Five of these new plants with a generation capacity of 4000 LPM will be installed in the hospitals of Kashmir and the remaining four with a generation capacity of 4400 LPM will be installed in Jammu hospitals. At present, J&K has 40 functional Medical Oxygen Generation Plants and the addition of nine more would further enhance the availability of medical oxygen in hospitals of UT raising it to more than 60000 LPM.
Last week, 19 metric tons of liquid oxygen was driven all the way from Air Liquid Panipat to Jammu in three cryogenic tankers. In Jammu and Kashmir, it is worth mentioning here, only the two DRDO hospitals – one each in Srinagar and Jammu, use the compressed oxygen. All other hospitals have a different system of managing oxygen.
Empowering Grassroots
Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta chaired a meeting with the Chairpersons of District Development Councils (DDCs) of all districts of Jammu and Kashmir to stay abreast with the ground realities, local needs, and issues faced by the local self-government. The top officer said that the recent devolution of powers with respect to 29 functions enumerated in the 11th schedule of the Constitution of India has further strengthened the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu and Kashmir. The DDC Chairpersons apprised the Chief Secretary on various district-specific needs and issues faced by them. The Chief Secretary assured the DDC of extended support and assistance towards progressive strengthening of PRIs and effective implementation of various provisions enshrined in the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. Principal Secretary, Home Department, Principal Secretary Rural Development Department, besides, Divisional Commissioners, Kashmir/Jammu, Deputy Commissioners and District SPs of all districts participated in the meeting.
Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday signed historic MoUs – Memorandums of Understanding with Policy Advocacy Research Centre (PARC) here at Civil Secretariat.
Singing An Agreement
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha led administration signed an MoU with Policy Advocacy Research Centre. Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said the partnership with the PARC is aimed at catalyzing investments and effective policy implementation in sectors contributing to economic growth, job creation, increasing farmers’ income, business opportunities, growth in GDP, and providing sector-wise opportunities to potential investors, besides strategically reaching out to private stakeholders. The MoU signed by the Agriculture department with PARC will strengthen the end-to-end value chain of agricultural products that would ultimately benefit the farmers and bring structural transformation in the agriculture and horticulture sector. The first phase of the agreement focuses on Millet and Pulses in Rajouri, Poonch, and Banihal sub-divisions observed by the Lt Governor. In the coming days, other districts will be included for value addition of agricultural and horticulture products, creating national and international farm-to-market linkages, he added.
Underscoring the positives of the MoU signed between the J&K Trade Promotion Organization and PARC, the Lt Governor maintained that the new venture will expand the reach of the UT at the national level to promote business, investment, and employment in J&K. Best practices of other investment-friendly States/UTs will be implemented in J&K, thus making it a more preferred destination for the investors.
