5th phase of ‘Back to Village’ programme to start across J&K on Nov 7

Jammu, Nov 5 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary A K Mehta chaired a meeting Sunday to review the preparations for the fifth phase of the ‘Back to Village’ (B2V) programme which is scheduled to start in the Union Territory from November 7, officials said.

Between 2019 and 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir administration held four phases of the B2V programme an initiative to take the administration to people’s doorsteps across 4,483 panchayats to address genuine development-related and other needs of the public.

An official spokesperson said that during the 10-day programme, officers would visit their assigned panchayat areas and undertake a review of previous and current year deliverables. They will also lay the groundwork for next year’s Gram Panchayat Development Programme with a special focus on improving the penetration of e-services.

Addressing the meeting, the chief secretary observed that the previous editions of the B2V programme helped in collating the requirements of the villages and prioritising works of public importance, helping the government in ensuring the last-mile delivery of various services, the spokesperson said.

They also helped in the identification of beneficiaries for skill development and self-employment schemes, Mehta said.

The chief secretary stressed that this edition of B2V shall focus on the saturation of self-employment and welfare schemes, implementation of the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, along with a host of other parameters for which a booklet is being circulated among the officers concerned, according to the spokesperson.

“The entire data will be collated digitally and analysed for consequential action at the relevant levels of the government,” he said.

The spokesman said the Rural Development Department shall provide the requisite training to the officers who will be undertaking this programme for the first time.

Mehta appealed to the public to participate in the B2V programme.