Start month-long cleanliness drive in govt offices: CS to Officials

Srinagar, Oct 12: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today urged the Divisional and District administrations to carryout a month long cleanliness drive in all the government offices and schools of the UT.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, GAD; Commissioner Secretary, Industries & Commerce; Secretary, Tourism and Culture, both the Divisional Commissioners and all Deputy Commissioners of the UT.
While taking review of the Swachhta Mission here in J&K, Dr Mehta impressed upon the officers that since our villages have been declared as ODF+ Model category, it is imperative to make all our offices junk-free besides enhancing their ambience and sprucing up their surroundings.
The Chief Secretary maintained that nearly 50000 office premises including government school buildings should be properly cleaned to make them clean and aesthetic. He asked them to install dust bins besides giving facelift to these structures including cutting of grass and whitewashing of their interiors and exteriors. He stressed on making the UT ‘litter-free’ by penalizing littering on streets.
While reviewing the preparations for sending of block level Amrit Kalashs to New Delhi under ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’, the Chief Secretary underscored the need for making all the arrangements at District and Divisional level to receive these soil urns and sending them onwards for the building of the National monument.
He remarked that as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Culture, the soil has been collected from each rural and urban household. He also asks for giving uniform attire to all those youth volunteers going to the national capital with respective Amrit Kalashs from their blocks and ULBs.
The Chief Secretary also took note of the timely disposal of files in government offices. He observed that from the overall disposal of nearly 96% files, the number should reach 99% by month end. He called for having no pendencies beyond scheduled time durations meant for each service. He impressed upon all the officers to monitor the pending files on daily basis so that those habitual of creating undue delays are identified.
While taking review of winter preparedness the Chief Secretary urged the Divisional Administration to ensure quality power supply, ration and timely snow clearance during winters. He directed for replacement of damaged transformers in a period of 8 hours in urban areas and 24 hours in rural areas. He asked for increasing the vigil through enforcement teams to curb illegal usage.
He made out that the scheduled 8-hour cut in non-metered areas should be ensured besides taking measures for uninterrupted power supply to all the smart metered habitations where AT&C losses are as per norms. He asked for running an IEC campaign in local and social media to make people aware about the benefits of timely deposition of their electricity bills. He told that people should be made aware that borrowing Rs 31000 Cr to pay for purchasing electricity is taking toll on other people-centric measures. He made out that the UT people are intelligent enough to understand and cooperate with the administration in its efforts.
The Chief Secretary also enjoined upon the concerned district administrations to take all the measures for ensuring vibrant winters here. He asked them that the roads to all the tourist places should be cleared of snow in a timely manner so that these remain open to public all the time. He also advised them to provide these places the power supply and other amenities without any undue disruptions in the winter months.
Later on the Chief Secretary also reviewed the preparations for upcoming Navratri festival. He directed the administration to take all the measures for smooth conduct of this festival. He told them to provide the uninterrupted water, power supply to all the areas where this festival is celebrated by people. He called for taking cleanliness drives and other measures in the areas where people assemble for the festivities for all the days of this festival.