Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan reviewed the saturation points mentioned in the Budget Speech for the financial year 2024-25 during a meeting held at the Secretariat on Monday
Shramik Mantr
Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan reviewed the saturation points mentioned in the Budget Speech for the financial year 2024-25 during a meeting held at the Secretariat on Monday. He emphasized that the departments concerned should promptly prepare and submit action plans with clear timelines in accordance with the saturation points outlined by the Hon’ble Finance Minister in the State Budget Session 2024-25.
The Chief Secretary directed that an action plan be prepared at the earliest to ensure air connectivity to all district headquarters and major tourist destinations in the state. He stressed that timelines should be fixed at every level of the plan and its progress should be continuously monitored. He instructed the Public Works Department (PWD) to immediately repair unsafe bridges and rope trolleys currently in use for commuting.
He further directed that wherever rope trolleys are operational, bridges should be constructed at the earliest. He also stated that if any non-governmental rope trolleys are in operation, their safety audits must be conducted, and they should be regulated as per government norms. Such trolleys would also be repaired and maintained by PWD. Additionally, PWD was instructed to saturate the state’s roads with crash barriers and submit a timeline-based action plan for the same.
The Chief Secretary asked all departments to provide updates regarding the implementation of e-Office in every department and district-level office. He emphasized the need to accelerate the transition of all departments to e-Office and to strengthen linkages with the Secretariat. The IT Department was directed to take necessary action at the earliest.
He further instructed that the work towards establishing theme-based Science and Innovation Centres in all districts should be expedited. Specifically, for Rudraprayag district, he directed the District Magistrate to immediately identify suitable land for setting up the centre. He also emphasized that the state’s 13 Employment Centres be developed as Self-Employment Centres, equipped with facilities such as libraries, video conferencing, and other services, thereby creating centralized hubs for self-employment activities. For this purpose, he directed the Industries Department and Employment Department to prepare a coordinated action plan with all relevant departments.
The Chief Secretary also instructed the Education Department to ensure adequate furniture in schools as well as to establish libraries at all district headquarters and in cities with populations of more than 50,000. He directed that these libraries should be operated on a society-based model, similar to the Doon Library, in order to ensure their efficient functioning and maintenance.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretaries Sachin Kurve, i Dilip Jawalkar, C. Ravishankar, Additional Secretaries Dr. Ahmad Iqbal, Mrs. Ranjana Rajguru, i Himanshu Khurana, and Gaurav Kumar, along with other senior officials. The proceedings were conducted by Additional Secretary Manmohan Mainali.
