JAMMU The Jammu and Kashmir governor administration Thursday approved delegation of powers regarding transfer of state or departmental land to other departments in favour of divisional and deputy commissioners in case of development or public utility projects.
The decision was taken at a State Administrative Council (SAC) meeting which was chaired by Governor Satya Pal Malik, an official spokesman said.
He said the SAC decided the divisional commissioners concerned would be authorised to decide the cases relating to transfer of state or departmental land exceeding 10 Kanals upto 100 Kanals (free from encumbrances) to the state government departments for public purposes or developmental programmes, within his or her territorial jurisdiction.
Similarly, the deputy commissioners concerned would be authorised to decide the cases relating to transfer of state land upto 10 Kanals (free from encumbrances), the spokesman said.
He said the revenue department would decide cases relating to transfer of state or departmental land exceeding 100 Kanals and upto 500 Kanals (free from encumbrances) to the state government department(s) for public purposes or developmental programmes.
He said the SAC approved that cases relating to transfer or lease of state or departmental land to state government department(s) exceeding 500 Kanals and transfer of any quantum of land, transfer or lease of state or departmental land, to government owned corporations, autonomous bodies, agencies and public sector undertakings for public purposes or developmental programmes, irrespective of the quantum of land involved and transfer of land in terms of Article 256 (2) of the Constitution of India as applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, would be submitted to the state cabinet or state administrative council for consideration or approval.
The SAC directed the transfer of land in terms of delegation to be subject to the condition that prior approval to the execution of the project is obtained by the indenting department from its competent authority and conveyed to the appropriate revenue authorities in the first instance, the spokesman said.
He said the decision would obviate delay in completion of the projects of public importance like schools, colleges, health centres and in particular where the requirement is minimal.
In the current scenario, it takes the department’s considerable time to process these cases for seeking approval of the state cabinet or SAC, he said.
The spokesman said the decision would not only help fast track execution of development projects of public importance but also their completion on time without cost overruns.
“This will also ease the job of departments in processing and clearing cases relating to land transfer from one government department to another,” he said.
Sanction to 10 more degree colleges, upgradation of 228 schools
The Jammu and Kashmir State Administrative Council (SAC) Thursday accorded sanction to the establishment of 10 new government degree colleges at far flung areas of the state between 2019-2021, an official spokesman said.
The SAC, which met here under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, also approved upgradation of 228 schools spread across various districts, the spokesman said.
He said the new colleges would be established at Tulail (Bandipora), Boniyar (Baramulla), Soibugh (Budgam), Kastigarh (Doda), Jourian (Jammu), Women College, Bhagwati Nagar (Jammu) Kralpora (Kupwara), Dharhal (Rajouri), Ghagwal (Samba) and Mongri-Panchari at Kainth Gali (Udhampur) during 2019,2020 and 2021.
The government has constituted a committee headed by Principal Secretary Finance with Administrative Secretaries of Planning, Higher Education and School Education Departments as its Members to examine the requirements of new degree colleges in the state as per the feasibility of each location.
Based on the recommendations of the committee, the SAC in an earlier meeting held on January 14 had approved locations for establishment of 40 degree colleges in the state.
“Continuing with its mandate, the committee after considering requests for new colleges received by the Higher Education department made recommendations for opening new degree colleges in locations that include far flung, underserved and backward areas of the state such as Tulail, Kralpora, Dharhal and Mongri besides a Women Degree College in Bhagwati Nagar Jammu.
“With the establishment of 10 new colleges, the students will have easy access to higher education within their areas. In all the Governors administration has approved 50 Degree Colleges so far,” he said.
Regarding upgradation of 228 schools spread across various districts, the spokesman said 87 High Schools have been upgraded to the level of Higher Secondary Schools including 42 in Jammu division and 45 in Kashmir division.
Similarly, 123 Middle Schools have been upgraded to the level of High Schools including 58 in Jammu Division and 65 in Kashmir division, he said.
The spokesman said the SAC approved upgradation of 18 schools under centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha. These include 12 Middle Schools upgraded to High Schools including 8 in Jammu division and four in Kashmir division and six High Schools to Higher Secondary Schools including three in Jammu division and three in Kashmir division.
The SAC also approved upgradation of government Lower High School, Mallan Dessa Tehsil Bhagwah District Doda to High School, he said.
Besides, the spokesman said the SAC also directed the School Education Department to conduct a detailed exercise for consolidation of schools and rationalization of the staff in respect of such schools in the state particularly in the cities and big towns where the enrolment is low and the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR)is imbalanced with respect to the average state PTR.
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