DDC Poonch discusses planning for FY 2025–26, reviews progress of ongoing works

Poonch: A meeting of the District Development Council (DDC) Poonch was Tuesday convened here in the Conference Hall, Dak Bungalow with DDC Chairperson Tazeem Akhter in the chair.
The meeting reviewed the physical and financial progress under the last year’s Capex budget and initiated discussions on plan formulation for the upcoming financial year 2025–26.
Additional District Development Commissioner Pankaj Magotra, who also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Council, welcomed the participants and set the tone for focused and outcome-oriented deliberations.
Chief Planning Officer Mohammad Rafi delivered a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the achievements under the Capex Budget 2024–25. He also outlined the preliminary framework and sectoral priorities proposed for the 2025–26 financial plan, seeking suggestions and inputs from the Council Members.
The DDC Members raised demands of respective constituencies and highlighted issues pertaining to the Jal Jeevan Mission, ground water availability, Rural Development works, school education infrastructure, and power supply. Emphasis was laid on addressing implementation bottlenecks, ensuring timely project execution, and improving inter-departmental coordination.
The District heads of line departments provided updates on the status of works, implementation timelines and responded to the department specific issues raised by the council members.
It was decided that the council shall reconvene after 20 days to review updates and progress on the issues and decisions discussed in the meeting.
The Chairperson underscored the importance of aligning departmental functioning with grassroots level priorities and stressed the need for collective efforts to achieve inclusive and efficient development outcomes across the district.
The meeting was attended by DDC Vice Chairperson Mohammad Ashfaq and DDC Members Riyaz Bashir Naz (Loran), Shahnawaz Choudhary (Surankote-A), Ch Abdul Ghani (Poonch), Wajid Bashir (Mendhar-B), Riyaz Ahmed (Bufliaz), and Mian Farooq Baji (Mendhar-A). They gave valuable suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of development interventions across the district.
The meeting concluded with a consensus to adopt a collaborative and accountable approach for strengthening the district’s development landscape in the coming financial year.