Nearly 14,000 dropouts re-join schools under ‘back to village’ programme in J-K

About 14,000 dropouts rejoined their schools during the just concluded fourth phase of Back-to-Village (B2V) programme in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Tuesday.

The information was given at a meeting chaired by chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta who was here to review the achievements of the programme held from 27 October to 3 November, a government official aid.

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Readmission of 13,977 school dropouts into schools, with quality education, assured, stands out as the biggest achievement of the programme, officials said. The programme has been successful in providing self-employment opportunities to 21,329 individuals, according to the officials. A total of 277 cooperative societies were also registered in fields such as poultry, housing, transport, and health, they said.

In the agriculture sector, they said 14,567 soil health cards and 5,914 Kisan Credit Cards were issued during 'Jan Abhiyan.' They said that 24,179 labourers, including migrant workers, were enrolled during the programme with the generation of 4,063 e-Shram cards.

The scheme was 88 per cent complete so far in the Union Territory, the officials said. In the health sector, they said that 95,959 PMJAY-SEHAT golden cards were issued granting health insurance to 49,526 families covering 93 per cent of the target in his sector.

The revenue department, according to authorities, was successful in issuing 6.6 lakh land passbooks during the programme. During B2V4, 8.46 lakh people were introduced to 'Apki Zamin Apki Nigrani' portal enabling them to access revenue records from the comfort of their homes, the officials said.

Additionally, to foster a connection with the youth, 23 musical talent shows from all over J&K were hosted on YouTube during the programme, the officials said. Fifteen role models have also been identified to inspire youth through a contemporary digital format, they said.

The social welfare department digitised 5,159 Disability Cards (UDID) and seeded 30,231 Anganwadi beneficiaries and 11,313 Ladli Beti' beneficiaries with Aadhaar, they said, adding that 211 divyang' Camps were also organised by the department. In addition, more than 1.55 lakh e-challans were issued by the mining department with a QR code-equipped payment system for the sale and purchase of minerals, the officials said.

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The chief secretary asked officers to visit their panchayat at least once every quarter to assess the change on the ground and act as Panchayat Prabhari for the area during the next year. Mehta asked for the implementation of an e-Contractor registration system, an online billing system, and the promotion of digital payment systems across all works of departments.