Investing In Power
Seven new power infrastructure projects worth Rs 10.11 crore were inaugurated in Kashmir to further augment the power supply ahead of the upcoming winter season. The new projects inaugurated by the Lt Governor target four districts including Pulwama, Bandipora, Ganderbal, and Budgam. The projects would cater power supply to approximate 30,400 households. The Pulwama receiving station completed under the languishing project category would provide a reliable power supply to 3350 households. The other power projects inaugurated include the existing receiving station Kurhama in Ganderbal; the existing receiving station Nagam in Budgam and the existing receiving station Wadwan also in Budgam. The three receiving stations upgraded will benefit 6750, 2600 and 4100 households, respectively.
Timeless Flights
The Jammu airport was made operational for receiving night flights. Lt Governor virtually flagged off the first late-night flight of Go Air from Jammu to Delhi to mark the occasion. The government on the occasion said that the move will benefit the farmers of the region as the UT government has recently inked an MoU with Go Air for subsidised air transportation of vegetables and fruits from Jammu and Kashmir, with the first consignment of Jammu Lichi being dispatched to Dubai and Mumbai, respectively. The formal inauguration of the cargo facility is expected soon. As per airport authorities, the re-carpeting work of the runway has been completed and the runway approach lighting system, which includes a series of light bars with strobe lights have already been installed and put in operation. Accordingly, night operations have been started with all other facilities like Instrument Landing System (ILS), CAT-1 lights, and PAPI, as they are already installed and commissioned at the Jammu airport.
Vehicles of Possibilities
The Jammu and Kashmir government distributed small commercial vehicles to 250 youth from across Jammu and Kashmir under the Mumkin scheme of Mission Youth program at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC). On the occasion, the government said that Jammu and Kashmir Bank has given a special incentive by waiver of CGTMSE charges. It involves an additional benefit of Rs 70, 000 per case. The beneficiaries of Mumkin scheme get a total subsidy benefit of Rs 2.5 lakhs on an average, 10 per cent of which is borne by Mission youth, 10 per cent by manufacturers and the rest as a waiver by the bank. The vehicles were distributed by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha while Jammu and Kashmir Bank Chairman R K Chhibber was present on the occasion along with IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar; Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal.
Digital Villages
In order to digitally connect the Panchayats, 44 Digital Village Centres were inaugurated last week by the government in Jammu and Kashmir. The facility will also act as a resource centre for providing skill development training, holding information sharing and interactive sessions with experts and government officials. It will also provide Wi-Fi access at commonplace in the village and facilitate access to regional medical centres and interactive teachings in schools. The government also inaugurated Phase-1 of JKSWAN under which 40 Block Headquarters were covered. SWAN has been envisaged as the converged backbone network for data, voice, and video communications throughout Jammu and Kashmir up to Block level. It is aimed at establishing a communication infrastructure to provide government departments with a mechanism to access the applications hosted by the data centre.
Digital Sparrow
The Jammu and Kashmir government is soon launching SPARROW, an online Appraisal System for all Kashmir Administrative Services Officers, which will then be extended to gazetted and non-gazetted employees, besides dedicating online services for Kashmiri migrants. The details were divulged by the Secretary of Information and Technology Department, Simrandeep Singh. The government also stated that 121 offices/departments are enabled on the e-Office platform; two lakh file movements recorded till date, in 90 days and 86 in person and 50 online training sessions were conducted. Implemented in 45 days, the e-Office system was enabled and made functional in all administrative departments and various sub-offices involved in Darbar Move.
Livestock Entrepreneurship
The government has invited tribal youth for various skill development courses and self-employment projects in the livestock husbandry and the food processing sector with an aim to make Jammu and Kashmir self-sufficient in milk, meat and wool production besides providing employment avenues in remote villages. The Tribal Affairs department in convergence with farm departments will provide financial support to tribal youth for skilling, entrepreneurship and employment. The Tribal Youth Skill and Employment Scheme in Livestock Sector envisages a Rs 15 crore plan to be rolled out covering skill development including up-skilling, the establishment of income-generating units, sheep units, the establishment of milk chilling plants, milk product management, food processing units, collection infrastructure, milk ATMs, distribution networks, wool processing and other profitable enterprises. The government aims a target of 10,000 youth for skill development for both the departments including 500 youth to be selected in each sector-specific to livestock husbandry and livestock product management. The skill development courses will include both offered by departments and also universities, skill development institutions and academies. The skilled youth will be provided financial assistance for setting up of enterprises in the specific sectors.
