Question Hour in LA Upgradation of 16.20 Km Sangrama- Sopore-Sagipora road under consideration: Dy CM

JAMMU, MARCH 20: Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhary, informed the House that a comprehensive Detailed Project Report for upgradation of 16.20 Km Sangrama-Sopore-Sagipora road has been framed for an amount of Rs. 1811.54 lakh which is under consideration for sanction under NABARD RIDF.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Mir Mohammad Fayaz in the Legislative Assembly today.
He informed that during 2024-25, 11.50 Km stretch road from Kulangam to Zandri Mode has been blacktopped under the Cities and Towns programme. He said that the road stretch from Kulangam to Kupwara is being managed by BEACON and is under upgradation to 2-lane with paved shoulder specifications. He further informed that the road stretch from Sangarma to Kulangam via Sopore, is being maintained by PWD, but the department has no plans for its upgradation. No DPR for 4-laning of the road has been prepared by the department, he added.
Mir Saifullah and Qaisar Jamsheed Lone raised the supplementaries to the question.
594 Lecturer posts in 27 disciplines referred to JKPSC: Sakeena Itoo
367 Lecturer posts in different disciplines vacant in Doda
Minister for School Education and Higher Education, Sakeena Itoo, today informed the House that 594 posts of 10+2 Lecturers in 27 disciplines have been referred to the J&K Public Service Commission recently for recruitment to cope up with the constraints of subject specific teachers in higher secondary schools across Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister stated this in reply to a question raised by Mehraj Malik.
She informed that 367 posts of lecturers in different disciplines are lying vacant in various Higher Secondary Schools of Doda district.
The Minister further informed that during the academic session 2024-25, 140 Cluster Resource Coordinators (CRCs) had been hired on a temporary basis in Doda district to teach specific subjects. She added that after the expiry of their term, fresh hiring process shall be initiated in consultation with Samagra Shiksha, subject to the availability of grants from the Ministry of Education, GoI.
She added that for increase of Lecturers in Higher Secondary Schools of Doda district, rationalization process has been initiated to identify the understaffed schools and ensure the availability of surplus staff for deployment in these schools.
Stone Crushers established only after securing requisite NOCs: Dy CM
Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhary, today said that the stone crusher/Hot and Wet mix plants are established only after obtaining No Objection Certificate (NOCs) from the concerned departments.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Sheikh Khursheed Ahmad.
He said that to streamline the minor mineral based units, they have to secure consent from the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board and obtain NoC from the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district regarding title verification of the land.
Regarding installation of a crusher partially functional at Bi-e-Maidan Kralgund Qaziabad Langate, the Deputy Chief Minister said that a chunk of land measuring 05 kanal under Survey No’s 33 min, 35 min has been identified in Bilmaidan village, Rasripora Lariganapora, Tehsil Qaziabad, for establishment of Batching Plant, Bitumen Plant and Main Store on temporary basis for a period of 30 months. This will meet the requirements for completion of RKCTC road, a National Priority Project by MORTH, he added. He informed that Deputy Commissioner, Kupwara has intimated that the final call in the matter is yet to be taken as various documents are still under process.
The Deputy Chief Minister further said that no NOC is required from the Geology and Mining Department for installation of Stone Crusher Unit in terms of SO 60 of 2021 dated: 23.02.2021. However, he added that lease agreement, environmental clearance and NOC from various departments is under process and the functionality or non- functionality of stone crushers falls under the domain of the concerned district administration.
Left out family members being added in ration cards on regular basis: Food Minister
98.52 lakh AAY, PHH, NPHH beneficiaries covered under PM Ration Yojna in JK, 56.977 in Chenani Constituency
Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Satish Sharma, today said that the addition of eligible left out family members in ration cards is being done on regular basis in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Balwant Singh Mankotia.
The Minister said that, as many as, 98.52 lakh AAY, PHH and NPHH beneficiaries have been covered under the PM Ration Yojana in Jammu and Kashmir while 56,977 beneficiaries in Chenani Constituency. He said that the department is contemplating opening of new Fair Price Shops as per framework in vogue, which is part of Jammu and Kashmir Targeted Public Distribution System.
The Minister said that since the elected government has assumed the office, it has been thought prudent to rope in elected members also to firm up requirements of new Fair Price Shops across Jammu and Kashmir, which necessitates relook of the existing framework. He said that bifurcation of ration cards has been stopped as necessitated for adhering to targets assigned for coverage of families under the Public Distribution System, particularly AAY households, by the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Gol, where the entitlement is at the scale of 35Kg per household.
The Minister said that the process of bifurcating rations cards through issuance of fresh Ration Cards would lead to implications of arranging additional food grains for such new households. He said that this also has implications in increasing the burden for the department under other schemes being run by the Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs and in other schemes of the Government, where Public Distribution System database is utilized and household is the unit of entitlement. However, addition of eligible left out family members is being done on regular basis in their household ration cards.
He said that the government has also included the children born after 2011 up to 2016 in respective household ration cards to further augment the food needs of such households. He informed the House that the criteria adopted for inclusion under Priority household (PHH) group has been notified.
The Minister further informed the House that 8.72 beneficiaries in AAY category, 58.10 in PHH category and 31.70 beneficiaries in NPHH category have been covered under PM Ration Yojna in J&K. Besides, AAY 2451 souls, PHH 31780 souls and NPHH 22746 souls have been covered under these categories in the Chenani Constituency.
Govt has no proposal for establishing Institute of Hotel Management at Pahalgam: Education Minister
Minister for Higher Education and School Education, Sakeena Itoo, today informed the House that there is no proposal at present to establish Institute of Hotel Management at Pahalgam.
The Minister said this while replying to a question raised by Altaf Ahmad Wani.
The Minister informed that Hotel Management is not offered as a degree program in colleges, adding that it is a professional qualification that requires a distinct academic structure, different from the four-year degree programme currently offered in colleges of the Higher Education Department.
Regarding establishment of Government Degree College at Aishmuqam, the Minister informed the House that Government Degree College with the nomenclature of Pahalgam-Siligam/Aishmuqam was sanctioned in February 2019 and same was established in a makeshift accommodation at Government Boys High School, Aishmuqam.
She added that the district administration had also identified a patch of land for the purpose at Village Akad opposite Akad park. She informed that, due to dispute between the residents of two villages of Siligam and Aishmuqam over the location of the College, the matter resulted in a court case and the High Court has passed stay orders.
The Minister further informed that the academic session 2020-21 had also been started but that came to halt and the enrolled male students were shifted to GDC Boys Anantnag while female students were relocated to GDC for Women, Anantnag. She added that the department is vigorously following the case in the High Court and as soon as case is disposed off, the College shall be made functional within the shortest possible time.
WSS Shopian taken under Amrut 2.0 to be commissioned by 2026: Javed Rana
5683.61 lakh spent on WSSs in Shopian constituency during past 2 years
Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmad Rana, today said that Rs 5683.61 lakh have been spent on various Water Supply Schemes in Shopian constituency during the past two years.
He was replying to a question raised by Shabir Ahmad Kullay.
Regarding the water supply in Shopian town, the Minister informed the House that the tendering process for Water Supply Scheme Shopian Town under Amrut 2.0 is currently under financial evaluation and will be awarded within this week. He said that the expected date of commissioning of the scheme is March, 2026.
Giving details, the Minister said that Rs 3455.43 lakh were released during 2023-24, of which, Rs 3351.78 lakh have been expended on various Water Supply Schemes. During the year 2024-25, Rs 2331.83 lakh have been expended out of the total amount of Rs 2430.70 lakh. He said that most of the WSSs are functional and the rest of the schemes are nearing completion.
No case of up-gradation of schools pending in Rajpora Constituency: Education Minister
Minister for School Education and Higher Education, Sakeena Itoo, today informed the House that there is no case of taking up up-gradation of schools to different levels pending in the Rajpora Constituency.
The Minister stated this in a reply to a question raised by Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Mir.
During the reply, the Minister informed that the government is presently focusing on consolidation of existing infrastructure as well as rationalisation of staff for smooth functioning of schools in the region.
The Minister further informed that there is a set criteria being adopted for up-gradation of schools, adding that for promotion from Primary to Middle School, there should be a distance of 3 km from the nearest Middle School, besides 02 feeding Primary Schools and top class enrollment should not be less than 20. Likewise, for up-gradation from Middle to High School, there should be a distance of 5 km from the nearest High School and intake capacity for single section must be 20 while it should be 50 for double section, she added.
The Minister further informed that for up-gradation from High to Higher Secondary School, there should be a distance of 7-10 km from the nearest Higher Secondary School and intake capacity for up-gradation must be more than 50. She added that the proposal for up-gradation of schools to their next higher level may be considered by the government strictly as per the feasibility report, existing norms and urgent requirement, wherever required.
Govt mulls to open new 1600 fair price shops across J&K: Satish Sharma
Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Satish Sharma, today said that the department is contemplating to open 1600 new Fair Price Shops across Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Vijay Kumar.
The Minister informed the House that the government is prudent to rope in elected members to firm up requirements of new Fair Price Shops in Jammu and Kashmir. He added that further steps will be taken after the required amendments are carried out under Jammu and Kashmir Targeted Public Distribution System.
Jamabandies of 6839 Revenue villages computerized in JK: Sakeena Itoo
Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, today said that the digitization of Jamabandies of 6839 Revenue villages has been completed in Jammu and Kashmir, under the computerization of Land Records undertaken through Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme.
The Minister was replying on behalf of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, to a question raised by Ranbir Singh Pathania in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister said that various steps have been taken up for digitization of Jamabandis to make it error-free as per applicable rules and norms regarding the land records. She said that, among other steps, updation of latest Jamabandies, quality check of data entry of Jamabandies by inter Tehsil teams constituted by the DCs, vetting and certification of data by the concerned Tehsildar, digitization of revenue records by the concerned Patwari/Data Entry Operator/other Revenue Officials, quality check of digitized data by the concerned Girdawar/Naib Tehsildar/ Tehsildar and freezing of digitized Jamabandies jointly by the office of Deputy Commissioners and Regional Director Survey and Land Records has been taken to make the records error-free .
The Minister said that web-based application has been developed for verification of digitized land records under URL "jkrevenue.nic.in/ revenue plus” which has four modules including verification of scanned documents, verification of digitized Jamabandies, QC of digitized Jamabandies and verification of Vectorized (digitized) maps
She said that all the field functionaries from (Patwari to Deputy Commissioner) have been given access to verify the record, in order to ensure that digitized Jamabandi verbatim copy of physical Jamabandi. She added that all the Deputy Commissioners have been authorized to address errors in the digitized Jamabandies like typographical errors and incomplete data entry.
The Minister further said that the digitized Jamabandies have not been finally frozen yet as the same is subject to the authenticity of the Jamabandies by the Deputy Commissioners, who have to read these Jamabandies in the concerned village and certify the correctness of the same.
PHC Sonamarg does not meet criteria for full scale upgradation as per IPHS-2022 norms: Health Minister
Facilities at PHC Sonamarg augmented during Shri Amarnath Yatra
Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, today said that PHC Sonamarg does not meet the criteria for full-scale upgradation as per IPHS-2022 norms, however, its capacity was enhanced during the annual Shri Amarnath Yatra.
This was stated by Minister in response to a question raised by Mian Mehar Ali regarding upgradation of PHC Sonamarg.
The Minister highlighted that during the peak periods as well as during the Amarnath Yatra, the facilities at PHC Sonamarg are being augmented through temporary reinforcement of manpower and infrastructure to manage the surge in demand. She highlighted that PHC Sonamarg is a 10-bedded facility with minor OT, general ward, labour room, lab section and is an en-route healthcare facility to Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra catering to healthcare requirements of general masses.
She informed that Sonamarg is a major tourist destination and Baltal is the base camp for Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra, adding that a semi-permanent 100-bedded hospital has also been developed at Baltal under CSR.
The Minister said that the department has developed a robust mechanism in terms of deployment of additional manpower, facilitation of advanced machinery/equipment, drug consumables to ensure round-the-clock healthcare access to the tourists and local populace during the yatra period.