Jammu, Mar 03: The ambitious goal of achieving 100 percent pension coverage of Persons with Disability (PwD) and eligible persons above 70 year age indicates that government’s welfare agenda has encompassed a larger social spectrum in Jammu and Kashmir.
Past one year or so has added several new dimensions to the working of Social Welfare Department of the Union Territory. With the inception of several new and modification of existing welfare policies of the government, the department has undergone a transformation from just being a disbursement agency to a participatory organization in securing the socio – economic uplift of the poor people. The new goals are not just to add more masses in the realm of its welfare schemes, but to rescue people from the vicious clutches of poverty by ground-breaking moves towards achieving Social Justice and Empowerment in real sense of the term.
Women and Child Development, Social Justice and Empowerment, Social Security, Minority Development, Educational uplift of Scheduled Castes, Pahari Speaking People and Other Backward Classes, border dwellers and economically backward people form the core of government’s poverty rescue agenda.
Grant of reservation to Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs)/Residents of International Border (IB) Vide SRO-518 issued on September 2, 2019 are bound to benefit people across a larger income spectrum.
Nevertheless, J&K is making every effort to reach out with a handholding to infirm, destitute and persons with special needs. The UT is providing pension Support to 6, 12,950 beneficiaries under Old, Widow & Physically Challenged Pension Schemes.
The Department, vide Govt. Order No. 04-JK(SWD) of 2019 dated 13-11-2019, has accorded sanction to 1,30,000(One lakh thirty thousand) new pension cases under National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP) & Integrated Social Security Scheme(ISSS)
The department is also vigorously pursuing the goal of achieving 100% pension coverage across all 20 Districts for physically challenged persons and Old age persons above 70 years.
Women Development Corporation, working towards economic empowerment of women, disbursed Rs 208.15 crore amongst 17145 beneficiaries /SHG members under various loaning schemes for setting up of their own income generating units, benefitting over 85000 women beneficiaries directly and indirectly.
To involve grassroots level public representatives, infuse financial discipline and plug pilferage, the procurement of Nutrition for ICDS centres (Vide Govt. Order No. 44-SW of 2019 Dated 29-01-2019) has been changed. As per the revised guidelines, the amount is to be drawn from Treasury and transferred in to Bank Account of Halqa Panchayats for purchase of Nutrition items(except for Rice & Wheat which shall continue to be procured from Food Corporation of India(FCI) for Anganwadi Centres. The said decentralized Policy for procurement of Supplementary Nutrition was rolled out in April 2019. The mode of Disbursement of Honorarium to Aganwadi Workers/Helpers have been changed and the amount is to be drawn in advance from the treasury and transferred in to Bank Account of Gram Panchayats for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in to the Bank accounts of Aganwadi Workers/Aganwadi Helpers.
