Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances,Pensions,Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh announced here today that Centre will assist the Union Territory Government of Jammu & Kashmir to establish Grievance Portal in each of the 20 districts of the UT.

In a significant drive to strengthen the ongoing good governance initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir held a telephonic discussion on the plan for next phase of expansion of the online Public Grievance Redressal portal in the Union Territory.

Following the discussion, Dr Jitendra Singh immediately convened a meeting of senior officers dealing with Public Grievances, including Secretary ARPG Dr.Kshatrapati Shivaji and Additional Secretary V. Srinivas. A plan was finalised to extend and establish a Portal in each of District Headquarters in Jammu & Kashmir for addressing the grievances of citizens and for providing services seamlessly at their doorstep.

To implement this initiative, it has been decided that Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (ARPG), Government of India will further enhance the ongoing collaboration with the Jammu & Kashmir Government to revamp the "Awaaz e-Awam" Portal with mapping of last mile grievance officers for improved quality of grievance redressal and reduced timelines in effective disposal of cases. Dr. Jitendra Singh informed that in pursuance of this endeavour, a focused team of officials from DARPG would be constituted to work with Jammu & Kashmir Government in the coming days.

This initiative is a continuation of a series of sustained efforts by the Union Government to create a transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly effective administration in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir in line with the vision outlined by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

Pertinent to mention, after the conversion of Jammu & Kashmir into a Union Territory, the DARPG had organized two important Conferences there on Good Governance. These include Regional Conference on Replication of Good Governance Practices in the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on November 15-16, 2019 and Conference on Ek Bharat-Shresht Bharat with focus on Jal Shakti and Disaster Management on November 30- December 1, 2019

Above two Conferences convened by the DARPG represented the first important events by the Government of India in the newly created Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and laid down a roadmap for good governance in the Union Territories.

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