444 lakh person-days generated, 3.24 lakh rural homes completed
Srinagar, June 11
Secretary, Rural Development Department (RDD) and Panchayati Raj, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, on Thursday chaired a review meeting to assess the saturation status of Individual Beneficiary Schemes being implemented across Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting reviewed the progress and saturation level achieved under major flagship programmes, including UMEED, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G), Swachh Bharat Mission–Gramin (SBM-G), Startup Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and HIMAYAT.
The meeting was attended by Director General, Rural Sanitation, Anoo Malhotra; Mission Director, JKRLM, Shubhra Sharma; Chief Operating Officer, HIMAYAT, Rajneesh Gupta; Joint Director Planning, Kamal Kumar Sharma and Additional Secretary (Member Secretary, MGNREGA), Waseem Raja.
Emphasizing the need for robust monitoring and evidence-based planning, the Secretary called for a comprehensive reporting framework capturing the current status, achievements, targets, pipeline activities and future projections in a structured manner.
He directed the officers to undertake detailed situation analyses before finalizing the future targets and stressed that planning should be firmly grounded in field realities.
The Secretary instructed the officials to present scheme-wise and district-wise achievements separately, along with comparative progress since April 2026. He further directed departments to revisit and update saturation targets wherever necessary to ensure that all figures accurately reflect the latest achievements.
To provide a holistic picture of rural development interventions, he also called for the inclusion of key indicators such as the Lakhpati Didi initiative and other service delivery schemes in departmental reports.
Reviewing progress under UMEED, the meeting was informed that the programme has surpassed its Self Help Group (SHG) formation targets, with 96,595 SHGs formed and more than 8.10 lakh rural households mobilized, significantly strengthening women-led economic development across villages.
The Secretary directed the officials to ensure that updated household coverage figures and community achievements are adequately reflected in all reports and presentations.
Under MKSP, all 176 Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for Integrated Farming Clusters have been completed, covering over 51,000 SHG households. The Secretary sought detailed information regarding fund utilization, expected allocations and implementation timelines.
While reviewing HIMAYAT and other livelihood programmes, he stressed the importance of benchmarking current achievements against previous performance indicators. The meeting was informed that under the HIMAYAT programme of DDU-GKY 1.0 phase more than 35,700 youth have been trained, while the new DDU-GKY 2.0 phase has already trained 1700 candidates under the 2025–28 Action Plan with scheme target of 32,000 youth to be trained.
Under MGNREGA, the Department has nearly achieved its annual target by generating 444.39 lakh person-days, providing significant employment and livelihood support to rural households across Jammu and Kashmir.
The housing and sanitation sectors have also registered substantial progress. Under PMAY-G, over 3.24 lakh rural houses have been completed against a target of 3.34 lakh houses, reflecting significant advancement towards rural housing saturation. Similarly, SBM-G has achieved 100 percent saturation in ODF Plus Model Villages and Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs), marking a major milestone in rural sanitation and cleanliness.
The Startup Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) has also supported thousands of rural entrepreneurs by promoting sustainable self-employment opportunities and strengthening the local rural economy.
The Secretary directed the officers to include explanatory notes and analytical observations beneath all data tables to facilitate informed decision-making. He also instructed officials to strengthen field-level monitoring, regularly review organizational performance, and systematically incorporate feedback from districts and implementing agencies.
Reaffirming the commitment to achieve saturation of all eligible beneficiaries under flagship schemes, the Secretary emphasized that focused planning, accurate data management and continuous monitoring would remain central to attain the department’s development objectives across Jammu and Kashmir.
