Srinagar: Governor N.N. Vohra chaired a high level meeting at the Raj Bhavan of Vice Chancellors, experts and senior civil servants to review implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission and of the newly launched Swachh Bharat Summer Internship Scheme.
Governor urged college students, NCC/NSS cadets, and youth at large to join the Internship Scheme and contribute towards cleaning the environment. He urged officers and participants in the meeting to work in close coordination to make the Mission program a grand success across the State.
Governor Vohra appreciated the initiatives taken by former Chief Secretary, B.B. Vyas, to secure a phenomenal increase in the pace of work to construct several lakh toilets in Jammu and Kashmir during the last one and half years. He observed that all the infrastructure being created under Swachh Bharat Mission campaign must be gainfully utilized, for which an intensive awareness campaign must be continued.
Governor expressed his concern regarding the dumping of garbage outside houses, on roads and lanes, highways, near Bus Stands and public places and stressed that a great deal of work still needs to be done to achieve a clean and healthy environment.
Governor also pointed to the urgent need for finding sustainable solutions for the scientific disposal or treatment of solid wastes being generated in the rural and urban areas. He stressed that the Shalimar Microbes developed by SKUAST (Kashmir) and use of vermi compost/microbial based degradation methods can be of immense help in Solid Waste Management and need to be given wide publicity. Governor emphasised that the Krishi Vigyan Kendra and off-site Campuses of the Farm Universities should be utilized for promoting / spreading these practices in the rural areas.
Governor observed that students could perhaps be sent in groups, rather than individually, for campaigning in rural/urban areas for ensuring success of the Internship Scheme. He stressed on all the Vice Chancellors and Deans to incentivize students by giving awards and prizes to those who do exemplary work in creating awareness about Swachhta.
Governor observed that participation in the Swachhta Mission Programs will not only provide a great learning experience for students but also contribute towards enhancing the achievement of a clean and healthy India. This would be valuable opportunity for young people who wish to contribute to Social advancement in a meaningful way.
In his ‘introductory observations’ regarding implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission in Jammu and Kashmir, B. B. Vyas, Advisor to Governor gave an overview of the efforts of the Housing and Urban Development Department and Rural Development Department Development in construction of toilets in urban and rural areas and showed his satisfaction regarding the rapid progress achieved in the matter.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary informed that while in the month of February, 2018 the State Government was constructing 7 thousand toilets in the State, since then there has been a 15 fold increase in the pace of construction of toilets and more than 1 lakh toilets per month have been constructed during the last three months. He urged the concerned Administrative Secretaries to ensure that the given targets are met before the prescribed time line of 2nd October, 2018.
Earlier, Financial Commissioner, Housing & Urban Development Department and Secretary Rural Development Department made Presentations on the progress achieved regarding implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in the Urban and Rural areas of the State. Besides, Prof. Nazeer Ahmed, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K and Prof. Anju Basin, Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu, presented achievements of their Universities regarding the implementation of Swachh Bharat Summer Internship Scheme. They said the Internship Scheme would be made part of University curriculum and a sense of voluntarism should be inculcated amongst students.
Speaking on the occasion Akshay Rout, Director General (SP), Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation informed that the Swachh Bharat Summer Internship is jointly designed by the three Ministries – Drinking Water and Sanitation, Human Resource Development, and Youth Affairs and Sports. The 100-hour experimental Internship program would require the candidate to visit one or more villages and conduct activities of their choice to contribute to the cause of rural sanitation in India.
The meeting was attended by Advisor to Governor, B. B. Vyas; Chief Secretary, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam; Financial Commissioner, Housing and Urban Development Department, K.B. Agarwal; Commissioner Secretary, Higher Education, Sarita Chauhan; Secretary, Rural Development Department, Sheetal Nanda; Secretary Technical Education Department, Mohammad Javed Khan; Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu, Prof. R. D. Sharma; Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir, Prof. (Dr.) Nazeer Ahmed; Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu, Dr. Pradeep K. Sharma;, Vice Chancellor, SMVD University, Prof. Sanjeev Jain; Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir, Prof. Khurshid Iqbal Andrabi; Director, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, Prof. (Dr.) Rakesh Sehgal; Vice Chancellor, Central University, Jammu , Prof. Ashok Aima, Vice Chancellor; Vice Chancellor, Central University, Kashmir, Prof. Me’raj Ud Din Mir; Vice Chancellor, Islamic University of Science & Technology, Awantipora, Prof. Mushtaq A Siddiqi; Vice Chancellor, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, Prof. Javed Musararat; Vice Chancellor, Cluster University, Srinagar, Prof. Sheikh Javid Ahmad; Vice Chancellor, Cluster University, Jammu, Prof. Anju Bhasin; Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu, Dr. Manoj Singh Gaur; Director, Indian Institute of Management, Jammu, Dr. Ajit Prasad; ADG, National Cadet Corps, Jammu and Kashmir, Major Gen. Nilendra Kumar; State Director Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan 39-A/C Gandhi Nagar Jammu & Kashmir.
