After the abrogation of article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir there have been continuous efforts by the government to strengthen the grassroots democracy.
Democratic institutions- Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions have been delegated nearly Rs 3200 crore and more than 20,000 developmental works have been identified directly by the people for execution by different governmental agencies.
For providing power in hands of people, funds, various functions and functionaries of different government departments have been delegated to grass-root democratic institutions—Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Municipal Committees) and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
Around Rs 1727.50 crore comprising funds under MGNREGA, have been devolved to the PRIs till now. 27 functions of different government departments have been transferred to the Panchayats as per 73rd Amendment.
For smooth working of PRIs 2000 Accounts Assistants and 317 Panchayat Secretaries are getting recruited. 460 new Panchayat Ghars are being constructed.
Urban Local Bodies in last two years have been devolved Rs 1455.62 crore. Funds, functions and functionaries of seven departments have been delegated to these bodies for the first time ever. Government has even provided Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia cover to the family members of elected members. Government had done Back to Village Programme in three phases and over 20,000 developmental works were identified directly by the people.
Under ‘My Town My Pride’ program, every Municipal Council was sanctioned Rs one crore to complete the ongoing works. The Municipal Committees were given Rs 50 lakh each and Municipal Corporations was sanctioned Rs Five crore to fill the gaps. Over 550 works were seeked by the Urban Local Bodies for execution and 50% of these works have already been completed.
Also, District Development Councils have been established. The plan allocation was doubled from Rs 5136 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 12,600 crore in 2021-22.
Under Jan Abhiyan, over 5 lakh certificates whether domicile, birth/death, category and disability etc were issued and about 50,000 families were covered under Health Insurance Schemes. It helped in bringing the governance at the door step of public.