SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha on Friday felicitated the winners of the Centre for Innovations in Public Systems (CIPS) Awards at a ceremony held in Srinagar. The awards recognise transformative public service initiatives aimed at promoting rapid social and economic progress across the country.
During his address, the Lieutenant Governor congratulated the award recipients and praised their contributions in sectors such as health, education, IT, and rural development. He emphasised that civil servants, technocrats, doctors, and scientists form the backbone of administration and are instrumental in nation-building.
Highlighting the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the LG credited the “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” mantra for enhancing ease of living and streamlining public service delivery. He stated that India, now the world’s fastest-growing economy, owes much of its momentum to this governance model.
“We must redouble our efforts to adopt modern practices that lead to inclusive, transparent, and accountable governance,” the LG said. He underscored the need for policy-making to be grounded in real-world needs and citizen participation, rather than confined to bureaucratic offices.
In a key policy highlight, the Lieutenant Governor pointed to 29 reformative projects under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) that have been implemented in J&K. He suggested that these could serve as a model for replication across other states and Union Territories to boost agricultural development and climate resilience.
The LG also urged officials to adopt the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s mid-day meal model to enhance nutrition programmes in government schools, and stressed the importance of technological intervention in the agricultural sector—especially the transfer of research from lab to land to tackle climate challenges faced by farmers.
Speaking about the evolving governance landscape, the LG noted that emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence are expected to significantly improve public policy, decision-making, and citizen engagement in the future.
He also applauded innovative environmental efforts by the District Administration of Ganderbal, and acknowledged individuals such as Jairaj Bhattacharya, founder of EdTech startup ConveGenius, and Swapneel Paul, Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia, Assam, for their on-ground impact.
The event was attended by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Dr N. Ramesh Kumar (Director General, Administrative Staff College of India), Dr Valli Manickam (Director, CIPS), M. Raju (Commissioner Secretary, GAD), Rehana Batul (Director, J&K IMPARD), along with senior administrative officials and domain experts.
