Srinagar: Reviewing Jal Shakti Department, Power Development Department and Revenue Department with all Deputy Commissioners (DCs), Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta Wednesday directed observance of ‘Bhrashtachar Mukt J&K’ week from September 4 to 10 across all 20 districts of J&K.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that during interaction with the DCs, the chief secretary directed that all the completed and ongoing projects should be put in public domain for their scrutiny as well in a simple manner at district level as well.
He issued directions regarding resolving issues raised against the installation of smart meters.
Mehta underscored the importance of massive campaigns along with public outreach for awareness regarding smart meters and steps to address any concerns related to readings.
While stressing upon the transparent and accountable governance, he issued directions for the launch of ‘Brashtachar Mukt J&K’ campaign throughout J&K.
The chief secretary said that the campaign aims at reiterating the government’s resolve to ensure a corruption-free J&K.
He said that the campaign was primarily meant to focus on the hassle free delivery of services related to water and electricity, besides addressing matters pertaining to land.
Mehta emphasised on active participation of all the concerned officials and officers along with Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) and public during the campaign.
He said that all Prabhari Officers should ensure that the matters of public importance pertaining to their Panchayats, wards, and areas are flagged and appropriately addressed during the week.
The chief secretary directed the IT Department to institute a feedback mechanism using Google form application, and to coordinate with the concerned departments to ensure proper record of grievances and complaints.
He said that to dissuade frivolous complaints, action under relevant laws should be undertaken.
Mehta called upon the people to participate actively in the process so that the goal of corruption free governance could be achieved.
To ensure the success of the campaign, he underscored the importance of feedback from all PRIs and Pani Samitis with regard to certification, saturation of Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs), settlement of electricity meter related issues, and resolution of land revenue matters.
The chief secretary advised all the departments to be firm in their resolve to make J&K corruption free as envisaged by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s administration.
He said that the push towards digital governance was a key element in providing the cleanest system ever in J&K.
Principal Secretary Jal Shakti Department said that it was observed that although there were no complaints regarding the contract allocation under the scheme as these were allocated through e-tendering and no contracts had been awarded arbitrarily.
He said that all payments were made after proper physical verification and checks by third party exclusively through the PFMS portal and that all the details about completed and ongoing projects were available on IMIS portal being monitored by the Centre.
During the meeting it was said that there were only four complaints of very petty and local nature, which had been received by the ACB till date, one related to deployment of number of persons by a PSU, one without any specifics, another related to antecedent of some workers, and the last related to early completion.
Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home; ACS, Jal Shakti Department; Principal Secretary, Power; Director ACB, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and Jammu; Commissioner Secretary IT, besides, all DCs and Superintendents of Police attended the meeting.
