After abrogation of 370, JK UT headed by LG Girish Chandra Murmu witnessed drastic change with notable achievements on developmental front’, say officials
KINS Desk

Srinagar, Aug 05 (KINS): The officials here in the Union Territory government believe that the Administration headed by Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu has carried-out remarkable initiatives during the last one year following the abrogation of the special status of Article 370 and 35-A of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating it into two Union Territories.
“In the past, the Central packages released for the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir were not properly utilized for the developmental projects in Jammu and Kashmir. But, ever since the state was bifurcated, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed a drastic change with the notable achievements on the developmental front. The development of all sorts including major infrastructural projects is visible on ground, to the satisfaction of the people of the UT”, one of the top officials in the administration on condition of anonymity told news agency Kashmir In-depth News Service(KINS).
He said in Jammu and Kashmir, all the 37 Central laws in the concurrent list are now applicable for the residents of the Union Territories. “These laws came into effect from 31st October last year following the approval of the Union Cabinet in an effort to ensure the administrative effectiveness in an efficient manner. In yet another significant development, the draft J&K Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Rules, 2020 under the Real Estate Act, 2016 was accorded the sanction by the Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu recently in an Administrative Council meeting held in Srinagar. The Law is aimed to establish Real Estate Regulatory Authority for regulation and promotion of the Real Estate sector to ensure sale of plots, apartments or buildings in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir” he said.
Another official who also wished not to be named told KINS that the Administration in order to ensure good governance, recently e-launched the National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) to address the diversity and variation that prevailed across Jammu and Kashmir on account of languages, processes and formats through inclusion of all the requirements of J&K on this account. “It signifies a remarkable transition from a manual system of carrying out the process of Registration to a computerized form of Registration. Additionally, in a big relief to the Union Territory Administration employees in Jammu and Kashmir, the benefits of all the allowances as payable to the Central Government employees were extended in their favour with effect from 31st of October last year. The employees in Jammu and Kashmir have accordingly been getting the benefits like Travelling Allowance, Children Educational Allowance and hostel subsidy for their children along with the incentives for the employees who wish to pursue higher education in a field relevant to their jobs,” he said.
The official added that in order to tackle and eradicate the corrupt practices, the Administration also established the Anti-Corruption Board, which came into effect from 26th October 2018. “The idea behind establishing the board has considerably weeded out the corrupt practices and facilitated the availability of its services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in a very flawless and transparent manner. Over and above, the J&K Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commissionwas also established in the month of March this year to examine the social and educational backwardness of various backward classes of people besides Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes of the region. Meanwhile, in order to strengthen the elected representatives and to ensure better developmental works in the rural areas of the Union Territory, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu approved the creation of Block Development Fund on the pattern of Constituency Development Fund. By creating the Block Development Fund, 25 lakh rupees each shall be placed at the disposal of the Block Development Council (BDC) Chairpersons who could utilize the funds for local block developmental works. The works could be identified by the BDC Chairpersons as per the local priorities. In this way, it could be construed that the Government had carried out notable developmental works and initiatives for the betterment of the people of both the newly carved Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir,”.(KINS)