UD&HD Minister chairs departmental meeting

GANGTOK, 30 May: A meeting of Urban Development and Housing Department chaired by Minister UD&HD, F&CS, Narendra Kumar Subba was held at Chintan Bhawan today. The meeting was attended by Commissioner-cum-Secretary T Dorji, PCE/Secretary WS&PHED, G Sharma, Senior Officials of UD&HD and WS&PHED.
A press release informs that in the meeting the programmes and activities of the UD&HD was presented to the Minister. The rules covering issue of Trade, License, Sanitation, Amusement Tax, housing was covered in the meeting.
The Minister was apprised of the present status of infrastructure projects covered by central schemes. Mr Subba directed the officials to submit a report on the reasons for delay in completion of some ongoing projects and emphasized on timely completion of projects.
The reform under JNNURM/ADB was also discussed in the meeting. The planning section gave a presentation on its activities including the plan for the new mountain city of Pakyong. The programme of RAY, National Urban Livelihood Mission was also covered in the meeting.
The Minister while speaking on the occasion spoke on the need to review the trade licensing norms in line with the new policy directives of the Government and use of information technology to increase efficiency. The shops of the various Bazaars need to be planned and maintained properly to improve the brand value of the State for the tourists visiting the state, he said.
While emphasising the importance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state the Minister said that the ULBs being newly established must be prepared for larger responsibilities by improving their capacity, generate revenue and work in close coordination with the State Government, the release mentions.
On Lall Bazaar Marketing Complex the Minister emphasised the need to improve its cleanliness and participation of traders by forming safai committees to monitor cleanliness.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks by Special Secretary UD&HD, LB Chettri.