Addressing the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions earlier on Saturday, the CM said, "Democracy begins from the panchayats. This is a important day," he said while administering oath to newly elected PRI representatives.

New Delhi [India], August 25 (ANI): A group of 175 IAS officers of 2020 batch, currently deputed to various union ministries and departments as Assistant Secretaries, called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.

Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], June 18 (ANI): Emphasizing on the importance of women's empowerment for India's development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that all policies, from Army to mining, are being made keeping in mind the welfare of women.

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 17 (ANI): With an aim to strengthen grassroots democracy in Jammu and Kashmir, Rs 1584.25 crore has been sanctioned for Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, District Development Councils and Block Development Councils for initiating developmental activities in rural or urban areas, said Jammu and Kashmir administration.

Jajpur (Odisha) [India], February 21 (ANI): Poll violence intensified during the third phase of polling in the panchayat elections in Odisha's Jajpur with some journalists being attacked and as many as 20 people detained, informed the District Magistrate.

Jammu Jan 20 PTI Asserting that expenditure efficiencies in the system have vastly improved due to a series of financial reforms Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on Thursday said there has been a 12-fold increase in works completed in the current financial year over the previous years average in the union territory Mehta also hailed the improvement in current years revenue collections despite the ongoing pandemic and stated that a strong and consistent revenue performance and a positive outlook for future will underpin equally strong capex growth this fiscal and beyond In the past on an average 2000 works would be completed Now as on today 11508 works have already been completed and by the time the current financial year comes to a close around 25000 works are expected to be completed This represents 12 times increase over the previous years average he said He made this observation while reviewing the functioning of the finance department Additional Chief Secretary finance department Atal Dulloo and other senior officers of the department were present at the review The chief secretary said the expenditure efficiencies in the system have vastly improved due to the recent introduction of a series of financial reforms Mehta further said the capital expenditure capex performance has to be further improved to maximise the gains of fiscal reforms so as to create a virtuous cycle of the growth in Jammu and Kashmir that feeds on itself and continues to grow Giving details Dulloo said that out of 44245 projects and works taken up during 2021-22 under district capex 42102 works have been accorded administrative approval out of which 40248 works have been tendered As many as 28523 works out of the tendered works have been allotted and presently under execution The department informed that out of 28523 works under execution around 25000 are expected to be completed during this fiscal year Dulloo said out of 2357 works sanctioned under languishing projects 1192 works have been completed so far at a cost of Rs 198377 crore He further said the expenditure performance of various departments is being monitored and wherever necessary instructions are being issued to increase the spending so that the annual capex targets are met by the department Highlighting the importance of monitoring the regular inflows from the Centre the Chief Secretary said the department must work closely with the departments for seeking more funds from the union government Mehta laid emphasis on ensuring real time audit of the departments through e-audit and said instead of auditing account books on ex-post basis the department needs to do so on ex-ante basis so that deviations from norms are checked before they happen Stating that Panchayati Raj Institutions PRIs are the top focus of the government the Chief Secretary said the developmental spending in rural areas needs to be ramped up with the close support of the representatives of the local self government for better infrastructure development PTI AB ABM ABM

Baramulla (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], October 26 (ANI): Continuing the Central Government's public outreach programme in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakashi Lekhi on Tuesday visited Baramulla, informed Jammu and Kashmir government.

Jaipur Sep 18 PTI The Rajasthan Assembly Saturday passed four bills including the Criminal Laws Rajasthan Amendment Bill-2021 by voice voteParliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal informed the house that Criminal Laws Rajasthan Amendment Bill has provisions to enhance the punishment for food adulterationReplying to the debate on the bill Dhariwal said adulteration is a serious threat to the health and life of people and the intention of the state government is to strictly stop the sale of adulterated food items and drugsIn the Panchayati Raj Amendment Bill-2021 the designation of Gram Sevak has been changed to Village Development OfficerDhariwal informed the house that the post of Gram Sevika mentioned in the Act does not exist in Panchayati Raj Institutions Therefore the provision was also removed in the amendment billHe said that till date no separate recruitment has been done for the post of Gram SevikaThere will be reservation for women in the recruitment for Village Development Officer he saidDhariwal informed that Rajasthan Staff Selection Board has recently issued a release for recruitment to 3896 vacant posts of Village Development Officer in Panchayati Raj DepartmentThe house also passed the Rajasthan Land Revenue Amendment Bill-2021 and the Rajasthan Agriculture Universities Laws Amendment Bill-2020 by a voice voteAfter the bills were passed the Speaker adjourned the house sine die around 625 pmIt was the continuation of the 6th session budget session which was adjourned sine die on March 19 and it was called again from September 9 by a notification issued by the assembly secretary on direction by the SpeakerOn Wednesday Speaker CP Joshi had abruptly adjourned the house sine die due to continuous ruckus in the house and confrontation with the parliamentary affairs minister Shanti DhariwalHowever he recalled the session from Friday and notification was issued on Thursday PTI SDA TIR TIR

Srinagar Aug 31 PTI The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved as compared to previous years Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday and asserted that the government is committed to providing security to panchayat members and extending every possible help to them to carry out their duty Sinha made the remarks at an event organised as part of parliamentary outreach programme for the empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions PRIs which was attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and several Union ministers The security situation has improved now compared to previous years There have been fewer incidents of killing of panchayat leaders this year compared to last year he said at a press conference after the event He assured panchayat members that they will be provided security and enough measures have already been taken in that direction In his speech at the event Sinha said he was aware of the problems faced by elected representatives The security problems here are general We are trying to provide a secure environment by using all means available to us I assure you that your accommodation security and other things will be taken care of We will surely do whatever it takes to make the Panchayati Raj arrangement stronger and I am duty bound for that he said Speaking at the programme earlier National Conference president and MP Farooq Abdullah raised the issue of security of panchayat members and said providing security to political activists was very important for them to work on the ground One of the most important things that we have to look after is the security of these panchayat members because they will be the first target of the militants Politicians will be targeted we are targeted anyway Those who stand with the nation will have to face those threats Abdullah said in his speech Sinha said the Panchayati Raj system was a new situation for J-K and while attempts were being made to make it better we cannot expect it to improve in a year I say this with responsibility that sustained efforts are being made to improve it and I assure you that Prime Minister Narendra Modi always says that stronger PRIs in J-K will make the democracy stronger here and development will also speed up he said Referring to another point raised by Abdullah about the previous governments in the erstwhile state not being able to implement the 73rd amendment which paved the way for a three-tier Panchayati Raj system due to some problems Sinha said he was happy that people participated in large numbers in the exercise to make it happen Farooq sahab raised some points quite emotionally most of which is true But I have not understood one thing till now even as I know there are some difficulties that for some reason or the other this was not implemented here I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on whose directions the three-tier Panchayati Raj was established in J-K I am happy that people participated in the exercise in large numbers and that it was conducted in a fair and violence-free manner The poll percentage was much more than the last few assembly and parliamentary polls he said He said efficient and effective PRIs are a driving force of a developed prosperous and self-reliant nation In J-K funds functions and functionaries have been made available to the PRIs For the first time in J-Ks history district capex budget of Rs 12600 crore was conceived after consultation with PRIs he said He expressed hope that the important role of the PRI members will surely help the administration to make a better J-K in future Responding to the issue of industries raised by the NC president Sinha said a new industrial scheme has been started by the Centre for J-K and so far the UT has received investment proposals worth Rs 25600 crore So far proposals worth Rs 25600 crore have been received and these are the proposals for which money has been deposited for land purposes Out of this proposals worth Rs 4600 crore have been approved and in the next six months all these proposals will be approved and works will be started he said Sinha said it was for the first time that the proposals to set up industries were almost equal in both the regions of the UT Jammu has only Rs 700 crore worth of proposals more than Kashmir division he added He said the UT expected a minimum of Rs 50000 crore worth investment in the next one-and-a-half years which will generate employment for about 10 lakh people Referring to the administrations fight against corruption Sinha said while the UT got some problems in inheritance he cannot assure that things will improve in a year or so But I want to say this that today the people of J-K are being given the account of every rupee spent in J-K I am saying this with full responsibility I want to say till I am here I will not misuse a single penny from the government funds for myself or my family Sinha said PTI SSBJTR SMN SMN