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States » NorthPosted at: Mar 15 2025 8:19PM


NEP-2020 implemented in all colleges of J&K: Minister

Jammu, Mar 15 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare and Education, Sakeena Itoo on Saturday informed the Legislative Assembly that the Higher Education Department has successfully implemented the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 in all Government Degree Colleges across Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Javid Riyaz in Legislative Assembly today.
The Minister informed the House that the colleges of J&K are already offering job-oriented and skill-based courses to enhance students’ employability and practical learning.
She apprised that the Business Management programs are being offered in various colleges in J&K but Artificial Intelligence as a separate programme has not been introduced as yet as the subject is new and developing area of learning.
She further said that Artificial Intelligence is taught as part of curriculum of Computer Applications.
Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture Production, Javed Ahmad Dar, today said that the Keran area in Kupwara district has recently emerged as a new tourist destination, where Rs 93.91 lakh tourism infrastructural development works have been undertaken.
The Minister was replying on behalf of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, to a question raised by Mir Saifullah in the Legislative Assembly.
He said that the Tourism Department has undertaken development works under the Capex Budget during the financial year 2024-25 for upgradation of Keran as an off-beat destination.
The Minister informed that the works taken up included shelter sheds/gazebo, public conveniences, signage, benches, lighting, selfie points, hiking trails, children recreation zone for facilitation of tourists. Besides, the Tourism Department is constructing a two bed-room hut at Keran.
He said that the Keran area has recently emerged as a new tourist destination and a large number of tourists have visited Keran during the last two years.
The Minister further stated that the destination is nestled between the Line of Control (LoC) and the Kishanganga River. Keran offers visitors a unique blend of natural beauty, serene landscapes and a peek into the local culture, he added.
He said that presently, there is no proposal under consideration for establishment of a Tourism Development Authority for Keran, Gumgand, Dedikote and Wogbal.
Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo replying to a separate question informed the Legislative Assembly that the government is working on consolidation of existing healthcare facilities rather than creating and constructing new infrastructure.
The Minister said this while replying to a question raised by Mushtaq Ahmad Guroo in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister informed the house that in compliance to Government Order No: 628-HME of 2016 dated: 03-12-2016, NTPHC Barzulla was relocated to MMC Sanat Nagar Srinagar along with assets and manpower where it is presently functional. She added that the working hours of the Centre are in line with the other institutions i.e from 10.00 AM to 4.30 PM.
She informed that the MMC Sanat Nagar is functioning with G+1 structure and presently OPD and immunization facility is being provided in the ground floor of the building, with the first floor of the building housing Youth rehabilitation and Mental Healthcare facility.
The Minister further said that as of now J&K is working on consolidation of the existing health facilities of around 4000 health institutes at various levels (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary). She informed that J&K is one of the top runners among large States/UTs in health institution density in the country, adding that these calculations worked as per the report published in 2023 by MoHFW, GoI.
She highlighted that J&K has a health institution for every 3500 souls against an average of 6000 souls at national level.
The Minister further informed the House that government has plans for future creations/upgradations as of now and same will be worked out once the austerity measures in terms of Government Order No. 10-F of 2025 dated 11.01.2025 imposed by the Finance Department are withdrawn and critical gaps as per IPHS, if any, are assessed.
However, Minister for Transport, Satish Sharma, informed the House that the government is committed to cover all uncovered areas and provide seamless public transport services to the people in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Advocate Vijay Kumar in the Legislative Assembly.
He said that JKRTC is in process of augmenting the new fleet of buses and when it is augmented, due share of buses to Hiranagar Constituency shall be allocated.
He said that the fleet of e-buses available with the Corporation is only meant for City Operation as the said buses have only capacity to run on short distance routes covering a distance of 80 km to 90 Km once they are fully charge.
He informed the House, that at present, JKRTC operates following bus services in Kathua district including Hiranagar constituency are Jammu-Hiranagar-Pathankot, Jammu-Pathankot-Udhampur and Jammu-Bani-Lowang.
Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, informed the House that PHC has not been sanctioned for village Anzwalla of Anantnag district.
The Minister said this while replying to a question raised by Peerzada Mohd Sayeed in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister informed the house that the Village Anzwalla doesn’t qualify for establishment of PHC as the village has less population and the minimum population for establishing a PHC is 2000.
She further informed the house that there is a Sub-Centre, presently functional at Anzwalla Anantnag.
Minister for Jal Shakti, Javid Ahmad Rana, said that an amount of Rs. 2083 crore has been earmarked for flood management of River Jhelum and its tributaries under PMDP package of 2015 after September 2014 deluge.
The Minister, who was replying to a question raised by Farooq Ahmad Shah, informed that the carrying capacity of river Jhelum has been enhanced from 31800 cusecs to 41000 cusecs in Srinagar Reach.
The Minister said that the DPRs for flood management were subsequently framed for implementation in two phases, Phase I and Phase II for short term and long term flood measures.
He further informed that Phase-I was approved for Rs.399.29 crore in 2015-16 by the Ministry for Water Resources (MOWR) and is nearing completion, whereas Phase II (Part-A only) was approved by MOWR in March 2022 for an estimated cost of Rs. 1623.43 crore with the objective to mitigate flood threat of 60,000 cusecs on river Jhelum.
The Minister said that the project is under execution and Rs. 114.293 crore from Central Assistance have been spent on it. He added that a total of 30 bank protection works are being executed under this project, out of which, 29 have been tendered and 16 are complete. The progress of these works is 80% in aggregate.
He informed that DPR of "Comprehensive Flood Management works on River Jhelum and its tributaries- Phase-II" was framed at an estimated cost of Rs. 5411.54 crore and the same was submitted to the DoWR (RD&GR), MoJS, Gol for approval.
The Minister said that in-principle approval was accorded by the State Administrative Council with the stipulation that while the department may proceed with implementation of Part-A (estimated at Rs. 1684.6 cr.) utilising the available funds, with respect to the remaining i.e. Part-B, the department may explore financing options.
Thereafter, in July 2022, Administrative Approval for Part A of Phase-II has been accorded for Rs. 1623.43 crore.
The Minister said that entry and exit gates in Hokersar wetland have been completed at a cost of Rs. 28.45 crore which is pivotal for rejuvenation of the Hokersar wetland.
Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo also informed the House that the government is making every effort to ensure healthcare services are provided across all areas of J&K.
The Minister said this while replying to a question raised by Mir Mohammad Fayaz.
She added that this is evident from the recent appointment of 365 medical officers, who have been posted to remote and underserved areas facing doctor shortages.
The Minister said that the Health and Medical Education department does not encourage attachments of doctors, instead, it is making every effort to ensure healthcare services are provided in all areas of J&K including far-flung and underserved regions.
The Minister also informed the House that some deployments are being made due to compelling personal circumstances of the doctor, mostly on health grounds.
She added that such adjustments are done with consideration for the well-being of doctors while still contributing towards the overall healthcare system.
Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, today said that the Town Planning Scheme (TPS) for Ransoo village has been notified on April 19, 2022.
The Minister was replying on behalf of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, to a question raised by Kuldeep Raj Dubey.
She said that it is also a fact that the Master Plan for Reasi town and surrounding areas is on anvil and the government intends to seek suggestions from the general public.
Minister for Agriculture Production, Javed Ahmad Dar, said that a total of 9.58 lakh self-employment/livelihood opportunities have been generated through schemes like Mumkin, Tejaswani, PMEGP, REGP etc. upto January 2025 in the past four years in J&K.
The Minister was replying on behalf of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, to a question raised by Mubarak Gul in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister said that the unemployment rate has not increased drastically in the Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir since 2019 which stood at 6.7% in the year 2019-20 to 6.1% in the year 2023-24.
He informed that 11,526 selections have been made by the JKPSC and JKSSB while 45688 private employment avenues have been generated in the industrial sector during the past two financial years.
Besides, under MGNREGA, 3.01 crore person days have been generated upto January 2025 which provided employment to 8.07 lakh households.
The Minister informed that the government has launched dchemes like Mumkin, Tejaswani, Spurring Entrepreneurship, PARVAAZ, Tourist Village Development Programme and alike initiatives under the Mission Youth programme.
The Minister informed that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has initiated Mission YUVA for self employment and entrepreneurship to identify, support and empower 5 lakh identified potential entrepreneurs through a structured and tech- enabled approach.
He said that the key goals of the initiative are to create over 1,37,000 new enterprises across sectors and generate more than 4,25,000 employment opportunities over the programme's five years.
The Minister said that during the past four years 246 Job Fairs were conducted in which 4893 placements were made by 2,760 companies and 6,640 candidates were recommended for skill training.
He said in order to address the unemployment, the government has taken many initiatives including upgradation of Government Industrial Training Institutes through Public Private Partnership (PPP), Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE), establishment of CIIIT at Government Polytechnic Jammu and Government Polytechnic, Baramulla in collaboration with Tata Technologies.
He further informed that 3,342, 3,048, 1,331, 7,851 youth have been trained under CTDP, B2V4, PMKVY and Women SHGs respectively.
The Minister said that out of 4,429 enrolled candidates, 3,249 candidates have been certified under SANKALP.
He added that the government is smoothly and successfully implementing the Centrally Sponsored Schemes PMKVY and SANKALP.
He said that the Union government has also approved continuation of the Skill India Programme (SIP) until 2026, with a total budget of Rs 8,800 crore.
Education Minister, Sakeena Itoo, said that the cost of civil works at Government Medical College Doda has been revised from Rs 139.00 crore to Rs 164.90 crore for completion of the balance works.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Sajjad Shaheen in the Legislative Assembly.
Sharing details, the Minister informed that out of total Rs 189 crore approved and released under both Centre and UT share, an amount of Rs 183.95 crore has been utilised on civil and machinery equipment components till March- 2024.
She informed that during the current financial year, an amount of Rs 9.50 crore has been earmarked under Capex Budget 2024-25, against which Rs. 7.60 crore have been released and Rs. 1.65 crore have been incurred.
She said that in order to improve the doctor-patient ratio and to give a fillip to the available medical services at secondary and tertiary level of treatment, the Ministry for Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme "Establishment of new Medical Colleges attached with existing referral/District Hospitals" sanctioned establishment of five new Medical Colleges at Anantnag, Baramulla, Doda, Kathua and Rajouri.
The Minister said that GMC Doda has infrastructure and staff in place, to function smoothly. However, as in the case of any new Medical College, there is room for further improvement.
With regard to staff, the Minister said that all vacant faculty posts stand referred to the JKPSC for advertisement and selection of suitable candidates Besides, faculty is being engaged on academic arrangement to meet the shortfall, if any.
The Minister said Consultants / Senior Consultants of Health Gazetted Services are also being deputed to GMC Doda on standard terms and conditions of deputation for utilization of their services in various Departments. Further, recruitment to vacant Non-Gazetted posts in respect of GMC Doda is under consideration.
Regarding the total sanctioned strength of both teaching and non-teaching staff, she informed that out of 267 gazetted category posts; 144 are in position and 123 are vacant, in non-gazetted category; of 432 sanctioned strength 306 are in position and 126 are vacant and in MTS category; of 117 sanctioned strength 70 are in position and 47 posts are vacant.
The Minister said that two CT Scan Machines, One functional Fibroscan machine (Echosens 630) are functional in AH, GMC DODA.
She further informed that the GMC Doda intends to start PG / MD/MS courses in broad specialties from Academic year 2027-28. Moreover, DNB courses are being offered in the disciplines of Medicine, Surgery, Obst and Gynae, Paediatrics and Orthopaedics in GMC Doda.
Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmad Rana, said that Rs. 159.16 funds have been released for repair and maintenance of 20 km Kastigarh canal in Doda during 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Shakti Raj Parihar in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister informed that out of Rs 159.16 lakh, Rs 108 lakh expenditure has been made, so far.
He said that Bhagwah Khul, Mandole Khul, Gai Khul, Ganika Khul and Dandi Khul are additional five minor canals, however, no funds have been utilised on these minor khuls during the past 02 years.
The Minister said that Kastigarh Canal was partially functional, however, a portion of the canal was damaged due to landslide in July 2024 which was restored to provide smooth irrigation facility.
The Minister informed that the canal is benefitting the agricultural land in villages namely Kadlal, Malwa, Kuddhar, Manwhas, Parshal, Mundhar, Kastigarh, and adjoining areas.
The Minister said that the canal suffered damages at various spots due to rainfall, snowfall and forest fire during winter season this year. The matter stands taken up with the Deputy Commissioner Doda for release of funds under SDRF.
The Minister added that the audit for utilization of funds for these schemes has been conducted by the Directorate of Audit and Inspections J&K, however, no third-party audit has been done.
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Tags: #NEP-2020 implemented in all colleges of J&K: Minister
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