Omar Abdullah inaugurates, lays foundation for projects across health, education, roads; directs SASCI works completed without delay; highlights saffron, milk potential of district
Shabnum Fayaz
Pulwama, Sep 16 (BuzzBytes): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday chaired a comprehensive review meeting to assess the developmental scenario of Pulwama district, covering sectors including health, rural development, education, social welfare, infrastructure, heritage, tribal development, housing, rural livelihoods, Jal Shakti, power, HADP, horticulture, animal and sheep husbandry, and industries, before inaugurating and laying foundation stones for projects worth over Rs 86 crore.
Deputy Commissioner Pulwama Basharat Qayoom gave a presentation on the functioning of key departments and major developmental areas of the district. During the meeting, MLAs from the district raised issues of public importance, with the Chief Minister giving them a patient hearing and assuring timely action.
Works worth Rs 23.12 crore were dedicated to the public through e-inaugurations, including the New Type Primary Health Centre Ratnipora (Rs 2.85 crore), water supply scheme augmentation at Ratnipora (Rs 5.07 crore), Primary Health Centre Newa (Rs 2.99 crore), road restoration projects, school infrastructure additions in Rajpora and Tral, the Milk Village at Sangerwani (Rs 3.35 crore), and a bridge over the Lam Nallah (Rs 4.54 crore). Foundation stones were laid for projects worth Rs 63 crore, covering road network upgrades, high-capacity bridges over the Romshi Nallah and at Batagund, a pasteurised compost unit at Kakapora, and a ruminant-cum-disease diagnostic centre at Pulwama.
The Chief Minister underscored the need for urgent execution and directed that ongoing works be completed expeditiously as the working season draws to a close, laying specific emphasis on projects funded under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme. Highlighting Pulwama’s strengths in saffron cultivation and milk production, he directed departments to focus on transforming raw milk into high-value dairy products through specialised projects, greater inter-departmental coordination and stronger cooperative processing models.
Speaking to reporters after the review, Omar said projects worth around Rs 100 crore had either been inaugurated or had their foundation stones laid in Pulwama during the day, covering roads, schools, hospitals, bridges and a dairy processing village. “The work is being seen on the land level,” he said, adding that the administration needed to accelerate spending during the remaining two to three months of the working season and that additional funds could be arranged through reallocation if the existing budget was fully utilised.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary; Minister for Health & Medical Education, School Education, Higher Education and Social Welfare, Sakina Itoo; Minister for Agriculture Production, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Cooperative and Election, Javid Ahmed Dar; Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Transport, Science & Technology, IT, Youth Services & Sports and ARI & Trainings, Satish Sharma; Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani; MLAs Hasnain Masoodi (Pampore), Waheed ur Rehman Parra (Pulwama), Ghulam Mohuddin Mir (Rajpora) and Rafiq Ahmed Naik (Tral); Additional Chief Secretary to the CM Dheeraj Gupta, the Deputy Commissioner, heads of departments and senior officers—in accordance with the working season’s schedule—(BuzzBytes)
