Srinagar
Governor NN Vohra, continuing with his public outreach programmes, on Saturday visited the Doda district of the Jammu region to make a first-hand appraisal of the pace of developmental works in the hilly district where he also interacted with legislators from the area.

The Governor sought detailed feedback from the legislators regarding the developmental issues of the district, particularly those relating to roads, health, education, power and PHE sectors. They raised a number of problems relating to their respective constituencies and called for speedy execution for the completion of long-lingering projects and pending works in the district, in the larger public interest.

The Governor called upon all legislators to enlarge awareness about the vital importance of the forthcoming elections to municipalities and panchayats for the establishment of grass-roots democracy. The legislators unanimously welcomed the Governor’s decision to hold the long-pending elections and stated that Doda would provide an over 80 per cent turnout in both the polls.

In his meeting with provincial heads of all major departments and district officers, the Governor was briefed by Deputy Commissioner Simrandeep Singh on the progress of various developmental works in the district. Given the mountainous topography of the district and lack of dependable accessibility in some remote areas, the Governor sought specific details about the progress of schemes and projects in the road connectivity sector, particularly under the Central Roads Fund, NABARD and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana which are being executed in the district.

The Governor ordered the release of Rs 4 crore to be put at the disposal of the District Development Commissioner, Doda, for the execution of unfinished works within the set time frame. He ordered that another Rs 1 crore also be kept at the disposal of the commissioner as untied grant for developmental purposes.