RAJOURI: As a part of weekly Block Diwas, the District Administration Rajouri today organised a public outreach camp here at Sports Stadium Kheora, which was presided over by the District Development Commissioner, Vikas Kundal.

Among the others who attended the event were ADDC, Pawan Kumar; BDC Rajouri, Darbar Chowdhary; PO ICDS, Shoket Mehmood Malik; GM DIC, Ashwini Sharma; ACD, Vijay Kumar; CPO, Mohammad Khurshid; PO IWMP, Sheraz Chowhan; SE Hydraulics, JP Singh; DMO, Naseeb Bajrang and other district and sectoral officers.

The public and their representatives raised a number of issues and demands of their areas including macadamization of roads, up-gradation of government institutions, paucity of staff etc.

Specific issues highlighted during the event were dilapidated condition of road from GMC to BGSBU, scarcity of water, receiving station at Ujhan; blacktopping of Gurdhan Balla road, paucity of staff in health institutions etc.

A mega cultural program was also organised on the occasion by the District Administration in collaboration with District Information Centre and Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mohatsav.

The artists enthralled the audience with their performance as they appreciated with thundering applause. National Anthem was also sung by all the participants on the occasion

Officers of different departments also educated the public about a number of schemes and programs being implemented by their departments in the district and motivated them to avail the necessary benefits of the same. They also replied to the queries raised by the public during the event.

While highlighting various activities being carried out in the district as a part of Special Summary Revision under SVEEP, the Dy. DEO said that any youth who has attained the age of 18 years or going to attain the age of 18 years as on 01-10-2022 is eligible to be enrolled as an elector in the electoral roll.

ADDC, Pawan Kumar said that the District Administration was working at its full potential to ensure that all the basic facilities are provided to the general public at their doorsteps. He also highlighted a number of Govt schemes and programs and urged the public to avail the benefits of the same.

The ADDC also motivated them to get themselves enrolled under SEHAT scheme to avail the necessary health benefits under the scheme.

Earlier, the DDC gave a patient hearing to the issues and demands projected on the occasion and assured the public that all their genuine concerns would be looked into for early redressal.

Addressing the gathering, he said that the District Administration is committed to provide all the basic services to the people at their doorsteps so that they don't face any inconvenience.

Highlighting the purpose of holding Block Diwas, he said that the event is aimed to have firsthand appraisal about the issues and demands being faced by the people and to provide on spot redressal of possible grievances.

Speaking on the need for promotion of local culture, the DDC emphasised that in addition to its intrinsic value, culture provides important social and economic benefits and it also enhances our quality of life and increases overall well-being for both individuals and communities.

He also appreciated the artists for their performance during the event and urged them to keep performing with the same and added zeal.

Underlining the efforts being made to strengthen the democratic setup at the grass-roots level, the DDC said that sufficient financial resources have been provided to PRIs to meet the developmental expectations of the public.

He listed the measures taken to ensure transparency and accountability and said that a number of Government schemes/services can be availed through online mode. "It is another major step towards maintaining transparency and accountability," he added.

He also called for synergizing the efforts for 100 percent saturation of the government schemes and effective delivery of varied online services of the Government.

While taking note of allotment of works, he asked the PRIs and officers to ensure that the tenders for the developmental works are allotted at the earliest.

Giving details of the progress on construction of bunkers by the RDD, the DDC said that as many as 2786 bunkers out of 3141 bunkers are complete in all respects in the district and the rest are in progress.

Highlighting measures being taken by the District Administration in curbing the menace of drug abuse, he said that scores of initiatives are being taken in this regard and a drug de-addiction centre has been made functional in the district.

Regarding enrollment of all eligible persons as voters, he said that for strengthening democracy, it is necessary that every person above the age of 18 years or going should exercise his/her right to vote and this is possible only if every eligible person is registered as a voter.

"6000 new eligible voters have been registered in the last ten days", he added.

While replying to the issue of scarcity of water, he assured that all the households of the district would be provided functional tapped water connections with the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the district.

He also issued on-spot directions to concerned officers to resolve the public grievances in the shortest possible time.