Govt adopted 5-pronged approach for transformation of tourism: LG

Asks NHAI to provide employment to local youth

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government has adopted a five-pronged approach for effective transformation of tourism in the union territory and the sector is being developed as per the vision of sustainable development goals, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday.
Virtually addressing a conference on ''tapping tourism potential of Kashmir'' here, the L-G said a comprehensive mechanism was being laid down to provide the best facilities to corporate golfers, tourists and food connoisseurs.
Sinha observed that despite setbacks faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UT administration has taken sufficient steps for the revival of tourism in J&K and for providing employment to individuals associated with the sector.
Tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir is being developed as per the vision of sustainable development goals, he said.
Besides, dedicated focus is being given to strengthen the hospitality segment and for establishing a robust tourism infrastructure system, he added.
The Lt governor said tourism in Jammu and Kashmir has immense potential. It needs to be explored properly.
There are many tourist places in Kashmir which are favourites of the film industry.
"But apart from that, there are hundreds of more unexplored places, which people are not aware of," Sinha said.
We are working towards developing state-of-the-art resources through public and private investment. The golden era of Kashmir would once again be brought back to the silver screen through the New Film Policy, which will be announced by the J&K administration within a few days, he added.
He further said that a number of policy interventions have been made to provide financial support to various stakeholders from the tourism sector. To facilitate ease of travel, night time operations have also been allowed at the Srinagar airport, he added.
Experts believe that the transport sector and rural and urban economies also benefit greatly through expansive cooperation in tourism, Sinha said.
Lately, similar effects have started emerging in Jammu & Kashmir also, he observed.
Meanwhile, LG asked the NHAI to provide employment to local youth in ongoing national projects, besides providing them skill development training in required trades.
“Ensure proper maintenance of existing national highways, besides constructing crash barriers and parapets at all vulnerable locations to avoid road mishaps,”LG asks NHAI while reviewing implementation of development activities, flagship schemes and administration’s working in district Ramban
During the meeting, he also directed the Deputy Commissioner and other district officers to adopt an action oriented approach for prompt redressal of public grievances; besides reaching out to people with all the basic amenities. He further asked the concerned functionaries to closely monitor the ongoing development works for their implementation in right earnest and to achieve the set targets on developmental front.
The Lt Governor laid specific thrust on important public issues like 100% saturation of social security & beneficiary-oriented schemes and speedy completion of languishing projects.
While reviewing the healthcare sector, the Lt Governor observed that the Ayushman Bharat –SEHAT has been launched with a noble objective of providing universal health coverage in J&K and passed strict directions to CMO to achieve 100% coverage under the scheme.
He further directed for sensitizing the people about the benefits of the schemes, besides speeding up the process of distribution of Golden cards.
While reviewing the COVID-19 containment efforts of the District Administration, the Lt Governor directed the Deputy Commissioner to take all precautionary measures, especially in view of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and to ensure that COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is adopted by the people in the district. He also laid special emphasis on making serious efforts to intensify testing and vaccination.
He also interacted with several delegations including DDC Chairperson, DDC members, BDC Chairpersons, Municipal Councils, PRIs, Bar Association Ramban and Political parties and took first hand appraisal of their concerning issues and demands.
Underlining the important role of PRIs in grassroot development, the Lt Governor observed that the government has doubled the District Development plan (District Capex Budget) for the year Financial Year 2021-22 and asked all the members of three-tier of Panchayati Raj Institutions to prepare a comprehensive development plan for implementing allocated plan/ projects to ensure overall development of the district.
Responding to the issue pertaining to development of sports infrastructure, the Lt Governor directed DC Ramban to identify a suitable land for the sports stadium. He also asked the DC to address all genuine issues highlighted by the various delegations and public representatives.