PDD FUNCTIONING REVIEWED
STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Putting a spotlight on improvement in the power supply position in Jammu & Kashmir and to provide uninterrupted and reliable power supply to all, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Wednesday directed the Power Development Department (PDD) to introduce strict and innovative measures in order to meet various challenges in fulfilling energy needs of the people.
Launches Web Portal of Electrical Inspection Wing Jammu
SRINAGAR: To make the services of Power Development Department easily accessible to the people, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Wednesday launched the Web Portal of Electrical Inspection Wing, Jammu.
Highlighting the key features of newly launched portal, the Lt Governor observed that the initiative would make the electrical inspection process more convenient for the public.
The whole end-to-end process, that is, right from the application stage, depositing inspection fees, fixing date of inspection to the issuance of fitness certificate has been converted into online mode, he added.
This will also ensure the issuance of fitness certificate in a time specific schedule, thus enabling the commissioning of installations for public use within the given timeframe, said the Lt Governor.
Sh Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department informed that the applicant can log in to www.eijammu.in and apply for the inspection process.
Time-bound procedure has also been established wherein approval/denial shall be conveyed to the applicant through the website within 12 days.
The initiative also aims at rectifying the shortcomings pointed out by the Electrical Inspection Agency within specified period in respect of a consumer after which the e-fitness certificate shall be issued by merely going through the rectified photographs uploaded by the applicant, without the need for re-inspection, thereby saving time.
For avoiding any electrical hazard/danger to life and property a provision has been kept for the public to upload picture of any unsafe electrical installation, if they notice in their area, for immediate rectification by the utility staff, it was informed.
The Lt Governor directed for spreading the word out so as to bring awareness amongst the public for getting their installations inspected for ensuring safety.
Baseer Ahmad Khan, Advisor to Lt Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor and other senior officers were present on the occasion at Civil Secretariat.
e-inaugurates Rs 28 Cr worth educational infrastructure
Dedicates new 344 ICT labs & 217 CAL centres
SRINAGAR: Making new inroads in school education sector, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Wednesday e-inaugurated multiple educational projects including 08 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) and 07 Girls Hostels costing Rs 28 cr worth, besides 344 new ICT labs and 217 CAL centres worth Rs 36.50 cr established in various schools of 9 districts under Samagra Shiksha.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor observed that the new KGBVs and Girls Hostels will increase the enrolment in these residential schools of educationally backward blocks and shall help in bridging gaps in gender equity.
Dedicating the new Information Communication Technology (ICT) Labs and Computer Aided Learning centres to the students of UT of J&K, the Lt Governor said that these labs will be used in the teaching learning process and the students will have access to modern technologies and digital world. Till date, 1420 CAL centres and 1588 ICT labs have been established at elementary, secondary/senior secondary levels which are helping the students to learn information technology tools of modern times, he added.
The Lt Governor remarked that “Education is fundamental tool for achieving full human potential and maximizing country’s rich talents and resources for the harmonious development of the individuals and the society”. Providing universal access to quality education is the key to economic growth, added the Lt Governor.
Working on these principles, the J&K Government is taking new strides towards Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Knowledge Economy and Knowledge Power. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that every child has access to education for making him/her a responsible citizen for nation’s bright future, the Lt Governor maintained.
J&K has a rich history of women achievers, outnumbering male counterparts in academics, sports, culture or any other field, which makes it even more important for the Government to lay a solid platform for them at educational level so that they can aim high, said the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor interacted with the students through virtual mode and congratulated them for their new educational facilities.
Meanwhile, the Lt Governor also inaugurated Online School Affiliation and Recognition portal, developed by National Informatics Centre, which will work as a Private school information system.
Pertinently, the Rs 28 cr worth educational infrastructure projects inaugurated today including Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas at KGBV Tandar Chenani, Udhampur; Ramhal, Kupwara, Kuligam, Gundchabutra; Machaddi & Basholi, Kathua; Mendhar (ChakBanola), Poonch; besides Girls Hostels at Panzipora, Sopore; Raniwari, Srinagar ; Ramnagar , Panchari, Udhampur; Manjakot, Rajouri; Peeri and Chatroo , Kishtwar.
The new ICT labs and CAL centres were established in Bandipora, Baramulla, Budgam, Doda, Kishtwar, Kupwara, Ramban, Reasi and Udhampur.
Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Bishwajit Kumar Singh, Administrative Secretary to Government, School Education Department; Prof. Veena Pandita, Chairperson JKBOSE; Amit Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, JaKeGA; Deep Raj, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha and other senior officers attended the inaugural ceremony
The Lt Governor was chairing a high-level meeting to review the Power scenario in J&K, wherein he enquired about the way forward and future deliverables planned by the Power Development Department.
The Lt Governor directed the Power department to adopt action-oriented approach to streamline the power transmission and distribution system, besides putting in place a quality control system and setting long term strategy for providing quality power with good mix of different sources of power to the consumers.
While reviewing various components of the Power sector, the Lt Governor passed specific directions on minimizing aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses.
Take preemptive measures for reducing the AT&C losses to bare minimum, the Lt Governor directed the officials.
Stressing on effective patrolling of feeders, the Lt Governor directed for taking strict action against officials responsible for the feeder losses. He further directed for fixing criteria of 50 % weight-age in Annual Performance Reports of the officers with respect to the feeder losses.
The Lt Governor emphasized on putting dedicated focus on real-time monitoring of power consumption, increasing revenue realization, improving billing efficiency, reduction of Power cuts, and addressing the issue of low voltage.
Deploy competent manpower and establish a comprehensive plan for cities and towns with high power consumption. Take remedial measures for ensuring utilization of power infrastructure to their full capacity, the Lt Governor directed the PDD functionaries.
Emphasizing on strengthening the power connectivity in the far-flung areas, the Lt Governor called for reaching out to even the extremely remote and inaccessible areas with electricity. He also instructed the department to prepare a comprehensive plan for effective power connectivity in the vicinity of Shri Amarnathji Shrine.
While suggesting the department to explore all the modalities and taking innovative steps for improving the efficiency of field functionaries, the Lt Governor called for incentivizing the field staff for their better performance. This will not only enhance the quality of work on ground, but will also help in improving the revenue generation, he added.
Laying special emphasis on making advance arrangements in the wake of any future vagaries, the Lt Governor asked the department to get ready in advance for the winters and start their preparations from 20th July.
For making the system more transparent and efficient, monitoring shall be done at all levels. Principal Secretary, PDD shall hold the meetings of XENs individually, the Lt Governor directed.
The Lt Governor also instructed the Power Department to rope in professional experts for power purchases. He asked the officials to mention the subsidy provided by the Government on electricity bills for the information of consumers.
As a follow-up to the directions passed in previous meetings regarding Unique Identification numbers for Transformers, the Lt Governor asked the officials for preparing History Cards of transformers with all technical details like damages, repairs, replacement, etc to ensure effective utilization of inventory and stores.
During the meeting, the Lt Governor also enquired about the Power purchases, energy availability, distribution plan, upcoming projects, overall working of the Power Development Department, besides various schemes and programmes being implemented by the department for further improvement and augmentation of power scenario in the UT.
The chair was also briefed about several key issues pertaining to languishing projects, transmission capacity, providing uninterrupted power supply, transmission and distribution.
The Lt Governor asked the department to focus on up-gradation and replacement of old and obsolete infrastructure to keep up with the emerging requirements.
Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department briefed the chair about the overall power scenario and power potential in J&K.
He informed that the establishment of 6 MW Solar Power Plant at Pampore is in the offing, besides the department is also planning to revive the 10.5 MW Heritage Power project -MOHRA at Baramulla.
The PDD is catering to 20,46,623 consumers with around 18,000 MU energy input to fulfill the power requirement in J&K, he added.
Baseer Ahmad Khan, Advisor to Lt Governor; Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Managing Directors, Chief Engineers and other officers of allied Corporations and Agencies attended the meeting.