Baramulla: Twelve Bock Development Officer (BDO) posts are vacant in Baramulla district.
As these posts are lying vacant, various programmes of Rural Development Department (RDD) including monitoring of various developmental works under Panchayat Raj system had been badly affected.
As per official figures, for 26 blocks of the rural development department in Baramulla district, only 14 block development officers are available. While 12 posts of the block development officers are vacant for last few years.
The available Block Development Officers have been assigned additional charges of headless blocks. However, the overall functioning of all the 26 blocks had been severely affected.
In Uri area alone, lone Block development officer is holding charge of five blocks. With the result the overall functioning of the rural department is affected in the area.
Block Development Council Uri Chairman, Rafiq Balote, described the issue a major obstacle in the execution of developmental programmes in the area. He said because of the headless rural development blocks, the various works carried out in the area are running at snails pace.
“Be it approval of projects, or planning and execution of different works, a common man here is facing severe problem,” said Rafiq Balote, BDC Chairman uri. “We have appraised all the higher ups about the seriousness of issue, however, so far no forward movement is noticed,” he added.
Fayaz Ahmad, a contractor said how can a single Block development Officer do justice when he is asked to hold charge of five blocks. He said whenever, “we visit local block office for different works like clearance of bills or planning section, we return empty.
Most of the villages in Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district are located on higher reaches. The different projects undertaken by the rural development department are being executed in the upper reaches only. With so many blocks of rural development department running headless, the monitoring of such projects too had got affected.
When contacted Assistant Commissioner Development Baramulla, Yaar Ali Khan, said that the higher ups had been informed about the issue and hopefully issue will be resolved soon.
“We have 12 posts of BDOS across Baramulla district vacant. In Uri area, we have one BDO holding additional charges of other blocks. Since the area has hilly terrain and reaching each place for monitoring is difficult for a single BDO, therefore, vacant post of the BDO’S in the area are likely to be filled soon on priority basis,” he said.