Over 8 lakh students in J-K benefit under Centre's mid-day meal scheme: Govt

Srinagar: More than eight lakh children of Jammu and Kashmir have benefitted from the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the union territory administration said as it was on the course to ease the life of its citizens through the efficient and optimal implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).

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"From the days of being under achievers to achieving front-runner status, the statistics reveal that the growing population is being significantly covered under the centrally sponsored schemes in J&K," an officials spokesman said.

The spokesman said the Mid-day Meal Scheme programme of the Government of India designed to better the nutritional standards of school-age children nationwide, over 8.30 lakh children have been benefitted by this scheme across Jammu and Kashmir.

"Similarly, under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, a pioneering programme in the education sector of the country, 1,588 Information Communication Technology labs, 1423 Computer-aided Labs, 803 Vocational Labs have been established in J&K besides uniforms and textbooks worth Rs 67 crore were provided to 7.8 lakh children. The Scheme is a major catalyst to bridge the digital divide amongst students of various socio-economic and other geographical barriers," he said.

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Moreover, around 8.96 lakh beneficiaries were covered under Poshan Abhiyan, an overarching umbrella scheme to improve the nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers to prioritize the efforts of all stakeholders on a comprehensive package of intervention and services targeted on the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.

To accord high priority to water conservation and its management, 54,304 Hectares have been covered under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). The scheme has been formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation ‘Har Khet ko pani’ and improving water use efficiency ‘More crop per drop’ in a focused manner with end to end solution on source creation, distribution, management, field application and extension activities. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) a multidimensional programme, is providing guaranteed wage employment, creating durable assets and strengthening the livelihood resource base of the rural households across the rural people here, he said.

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Natural Resource Management and water conservation measures are changing the landscape of rural India. The livelihood thrust in MGNREGS has been brought in to raise incomes and improve skills for diversification of earning opportunities of poor households.

According to the official documents 405.38 lakh person-days under the scheme were generated in 2021-22. Jammu and Kashmir was declared the open defecation free (ODF) and launched the “Swachhta Hi Seva” – a fortnight-long cleanliness campaign for public awareness and involvement of the community.

'Swachhata Hi Seva' campaign

At the launch of the “Swachhata Hi Seva” campaign at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC), J&K was self-declared as ODF. With the sustained efforts of all the stakeholders, Jammu and Kashmir has achieved 100 per cent toilet coverage and became ODF “one year in advance”. All the 22 districts, 4,171 gram panchayats and 7,565 villages in the state are self-declared ODF as per Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) SBM (G) guidelines.

An official said that apart from constructing 1.1 million individual household toilets (IHHLs) and 1,350 community sanitary complexes in J&K, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has played a vital role in bringing about behavioural change in the people, the spokesman said.

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Moreover, 105 projects were completed under Smart City Projects aimed at transforming Jammu and Srinagar into modern, sustainable and economically vibrant cities with a dedicated focus on improving infrastructure and services besides increasing mobility, he added.

The ambitious project, on completion, would strengthen urban infrastructure, improve city services, public aesthetics, ease of living, and provide a clean and sustainable environment besides enhance administrative machinery in both the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar, the spokesman said.