The Jammu and Kashmir government today deployed the Visiting Officers of the just concluded Phase IV of ‘Back to Village’ Programme, as the Prabhari Officers for the concerned Panchayat(s) for the next one year or till decided otherwise.
The Visiting Officers had been nominated by the General Administration Department or by the Deputy Commissioners before the beginning of the Phase IV of the B2V programme across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to an order issued by the General Administrative Department, the Prabhari Officer(s) shall make quarterly physical follow up visits to the Panchayat(s) that he or she was allotted besides monthly virtual participation on First Monday of every month. The first follow up visit shall be held from December 1-15, 2022.
The Prabhari Officer shall guide and mentor the Panchayat(s), support and monitor all developmental activities and remove bottlenecks, if any, in the developmental process.
The Panchayat Prabhari shall ensure resolution of legitimate grievances and demands, and follow up on the several deliverables of the ‘Back to Village’ Programme.
The order has elaborated the deliverables as “Swachh Gram Programme saturation, dissemination of information regarding Jan Bhagidari, issuance of Land Passbooks, 100% saturation of Golden Cards, completion of pending inheritance mutations by the concerned Revenue officers, distribution of e-Shram cards among all eligible beneficiaries, 100% Aadhar Seeding/ Penetration, rejuvenating self-employment across all Panchayats by facilitating interaction of eligible youth with concerned agencies/marketing awareness programmes, banks and other agencies/line departments, progress on Jal Jeevan Mission, progress on Panchayat Paani Samitis, formation/activation of Panchayat Youth Clubs and progress achieved under Mission Amrit Sarovar.
The Prabhari Officer(s) shall lay special focus on 101 deliverables of various departments inter-alia priority areas mentioned above. They shall maintain a continuous liaison with the people of the Panchayat and facilitate appropriate communication between the Panchayat and local administration/line departments, ensuring redressal of grievances/issues locally.
All line departments shall extend cooperation to the Prabhari officers to their satisfaction. Any non-responsiveness/non cooperation by the representatives of line departments shall be reported to the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrate/District Magistrate for appropriate action.
The government has ordered that the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj shall be the Nodal Department for coordinating the exercise, and shall devise an objective format/mechanism for monitoring the progress of the above deliverables.
According to the list of deliverables based on the order, distribution of Ayushmaan Bharat Golden Health Cards to all eligible beneficiaries shall be taken up in terms of ensuring 100% Aadhar Seeding/Penetration and usage of Aadhar for availing different Government services. Besides, Land Passbooks to be printed and issued to all landowners, inheritance Mutations-all pending and current mutations to be attested by the revenue officers, promoting and encouraging self-employment across all Panchayats by facilitating interaction of eligible youth with concerned agencies, banks and line departments, creating awareness on different schemes for unemployed youth, identifying candidates for skill training under HIMAYAT and skill development and ensuring that they are included for skill training under these schemes, ensuring that every Panchayat has a functional CSC and is supporting general public in accessing online schemes, creating awareness on Jan Bhagidari among PRIS and general public and all important information of schemes, online services and beneficiaries and other details to be painted in every Panchayat.
Similarly, Pani Samitis meetings to be held regularly in the Panchayat, field testing kits to be provided to the Panchayat Pani Samiti and trainings given besides water sufficiency and quality to be checked and certified and uploaded on portal Implement Swachh Gram Plans.
Other deliverables included conversion of UDID cards into Digital Format, distribution of e-Shram Cards among all eligible beneficiaries, ensuring that every Panchayat has one reasonable sized playfield and that sports activities are conducted there. In hilly areas or dispersed habitations, every mohra or sub village has a playfield and presence of GRS, VLW, Panchayat Secretary shall be ensured in the Panchayat besides ensuring that their contact numbers are prominently displayed. Also, ensuring that Panchayat Ghar is functional, name and phone number of the Patwari/VLW and other officers is prominently painted, Amrit Sarovars to be completed in every Panchayat, formation and activation of Panchayat Youth Clubs, ensuring that Gram Sabha meetings with at least 50% attendance are held regularly and work plans are approved there, holding of Bal Sabhas and Mahila Sabhas, ensuring that all line departments regularly participate through their local/ grass root level functionaries in Monday Meetings in Panchayats, ensuring that a Village Haat is established in every Village of the Panchayat, ensuring that all OLD AGE, WIDOW and DISABLED pensions are sanctioned to every eligible beneficiary NOAPS/ISSS etc. likewise, ensuring that all out of school children are identified and brought back to school, ensuring that all demands, complaints and grievances raised during any B2V programme or any field visit are addressed and resolved, ensuring that all eligible children are supported by Anganwadis and that nutrition is
provided, ensuring that basic infrastructure in terms of road, water and electricity is available and functional, ensuring that information about all government schemes is widely disseminated and that regular awareness and extension camps are conducted by different departments.
Meanwhile, by another order issued by General Administration Department, the government has directed different departments/ agencies/ officers to complete tasks/achieve deliverables as a follow-up/way-forward for successful implementation of ‘Back to Village’ programme.
The order stated that the Rural Development Department has been assigned the task of submitting complete report of the programme including achievements, shortcomings, if any, and next steps. Moreover, they have also been asked to collate all the details about willing candidates for skill development collected during B2V4 and ensure that the willing candidates are accommodated under HIMAYAT or other schemes as well as coordinate and manage the entire follow up for the programme including the PANCHAYAT PRABHARI SCHEME.
The Deputy Commissioners have been asked to review the responses from all B2V booklets (B2V1, B2V2, B2V3 and B2V4) with special reference to the demands and complaints and draw out an Action taken Report (ATR1), ensure that all demands which have been met and complaints/soft issues addressed should be clearly mentioned in ATR 1, group all pending issues into local panchayat level issues, district level issues and administrative department level issues, submit all local and district level issues positively within a month’s time to the Planning Department as ATR2, forward all Administrative Department level issues and policy issues to the concerned department and GAD with a copy to the Planning Department (ATR3).
Similarly, Planning Development and Monitoring Department has been asked to submit a detailed report on overall achievement of deliverables and quantitative targets achieved, submit the report of concurrent evaluation of the programme carried out by it, use the digitized data to prepare Gati Shakti layers and use for analysis and planning, finalize the proposal for B2V award in consultation with B2V team and send to GAD for approval, develop a Panchayat Development Index in consultation with the Rural Development Department within a month and rank all Panchayats on that index, collect the digitized data from RDD and analyze it for further Planning and resource allocation as well collect the Action Taken Reports (1-3) from the Deputy Commissioners and other departments and monitor progress to ensure that all legitimate demands and grievances are addressed.
Likewise, Information Technology has been ordered to submit a detailed monthly report on the number of camps organized, awareness generated and quantitative targets achieved while as Banks have been asked to submit a detailed report on the overall achievement of Self Employment targets ensuring that all new cases received are processed and disposed off within one month and hold a function after one month to handover sanction and disbursement letters to candidates.
The government order further asked the General Administration Department to issue orders for Panchayat Prabhari Scheme and ensure that awards for B2V4 are finalized and given on Republic Day 2023 while as Information Department has been ordered to prepare a coffee table e-book and film on the basis of details to be shared by RDD.
Similarly, all other departments have been asked to review their respective deliverables and ensure saturation, review Action Taken Reports received from Deputy Commissioners and resolve as many issues as possible and send an Action Taken Report to the Planning Department.