Leh, Jan 03: The Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) held a meeting with the Departmental Secretaries and Head of Departments (HODs) at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat to discuss the ongoing works/projects, public grievances along with the issues faced by the departments in carrying out developmental works.
At the outset, the HLG asked the Departmental Secretaries and HODs to ensure there is no delay in public welfare measures, which are within the norms and meet the public in their offices to address their issues. He inquired about the assistance provided to the families affected by the fire incidents at Chiktan, Tia and Nimoo and he asked the concerned officials to provide the required assistance at the earliest to provide relief to the affected families. He also highlighted the need to place fire tenders at Police Stations and train police personnel to operate the fire tenders to tackle fire incidents in Ladakh. The HLG also highlighted the importance of paying salaries to employees, including contractual/outsourced, on time.
The HLG discussed several issues with the concerned Departmental Secretaries and HODs, viz. the progress in the procurement of MRI machine for District Hospital, Kargil; the progress on the establishment of Medical and Engineering College and the Government Degree College at Sankoo; the strengthening of All India Radio at Kargil; the progress on drafting recruitment rules for gazetted posts that has to be submitted to UPSC; the need to prepare and submit detailed project reports (DPRs) on time; the realignment of the transmission line on the 220 kV Drass-Padum Transmission Line; the need to prepare and maintain list/roster of SRO-43 cases for appointment on compassionate grounds; the establishment of Sainik School in Ladakh; the plan for promotion and marketing of sea buckthorn outside Ladakh; the progress on the detachment of teaching staff of Education Department; the occupancy of houses built for nomds; the distribution of pashmina kid pens among nomads; the establishment of police posts in sensitive areas of Ladakh; the progress on clearance of garbage left behind by tourists from tourist areas in higher reaches of Ladakh; the update on finalisation of revised logo of Tourism Department; the need to fast-track helicopter service in Ladakh, especially for rescue operations; the extension of airfield at Kargil; the update on installation of the pashmina dehairing plant by the technicians; the establishment of animal pound to keep impounded stray animals; the progress on the process of delimitation of Municipal wards and the Panchayat elections; the distribution of rice and sale of sugar through Public Distribution System (PDS); the update on the girl’s polo team from Kargil to be sent for training under President’s Body Guard; the issue raised on the recent teaching and non-teaching posts notified by University of Ladakh; the problem faced in the airlifting of passengers through IAF flights from Thoise-Chandigarh-Thoise and the clearance of backlog of passengers; the need to make water ATMs functional; the problem faced by students in availing pre-matric and post-matric scholarship on the National Scholarship Portal; the heating arrangement issue at KBR Airport in Leh, etc.
The HLG stated that he would take up the matter of establishing Medical and Engineering Colleges and GDC Sankoo, expansion of airfield at Kargil, strengthening of All India Radio (AIR) Kargil, the drafting of recruitment rules for gazetted posts and technicians required for the installation of pashmina dehairing plant with the concerned Ministries and Institutions. He asked the concerned HOD of Commerce and Industries to prepare a plan for the promotion and marketing of sea buckthorn by promoting products of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to improve their livelihood. He instructed the Director of School Education, to visit Kargil and check the completion of the detachment process of teachers and submit a report on the same.
The HLG asked the concerned officials to conduct the exercise of delimitation of Municipal wards in Leh and Kargil at the earliest so that the Municipal and subsequently the Panchayat elections could be held in Ladakh. He also asked the concerned Departmental Secretary to take up the matter of engaging the maximum local youth in the solar power project at Pang with the concerned implementing agency.
Shri Kumar Surender Sinwar from ThoughtsWin Systems gave a presentation on Unique Family ID initiative in which he highlighted the objectives of the ID, its benefit to the Ladakhi community, its integration with existing systems, AI-powered data management, scaling up, data security and privacy, the role of ThoughtsWin System and community engagement.
Advisor to HLG, Dr Pawan Kotwal, IAS; Commissioner Secretary, Dr Vasanthakumar N, IAS; Commissioner Secretary, Smt Padma Angmo, IIS; Commissioner Secretary, Shri Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, IRS; Commissioner Secretary, Shri Fayaz Ahmed Sheikh, JKAS; Secretary to HLG, Shri Ravinder Kumar, IAS; Secretary, Shri Amit Sharma, IAS; Secretary, Shri Yetindra Maralkar, IAS; DIG Ladakh Police, Shri Sheikh Junaid, IPS; Chief Conservator of Forests, Shri Sajjad Mufti, IFS; Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Shri Santosh Sukhadeve, IAS; HODs and concerned officials from different departments were present in the meeting.
