SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday chaired a meeting to review the progress of the Lieutenant Governor’s Sustainable Development Fellowship Programme here at Raj Bhawan.
The Lt Governor observed that the ‘Lieutenant Governor’s Sustainable Development Fellowship (LGSDF)’ programme provides a unique opportunity for talented young professionals to contribute to strategic planning and implementation of development policies.
He directed the IIT Jammu and Higher Education Department to engage with the fellows regularly to address their concerns, capacity building, encourage independent ideas, integrate and a holistic approach to make the programmes more effective in terms of impact and outcome.
At the outset, the LGSDF fellows briefed the chair in detail about their work and contributions through a series of presentations and also shared their ideas for traffic management and urban development.
During the interaction with the fellows from different areas of specialization, the Lt Governor said that the initiative intends to link young talents with governance and public policy and nurture the young professionals to contribute to the greater good of society.
“Another aspect was to bring the common man at the centre of the government’s priorities by bridging the gap of knowledge and wisdom within the new generation,” he added.
The Lt Governor recalled that last year when this fellowship took shape in the UT, the view was that the administration and its various departments would not merely act as mediators but would prefer independent thinking in formulating development works.
“Our aim was that the young generation should work on the projects of Jammu and Srinagar Smart Cities, on tourism with global thinking and local perspective and that the administration, as well as common citizens, should benefit from it,” he added.
Observing that youth have a completely different mindset and vision for urban mobility, smart schools, and other developmental aspects, the Lt Governor said that the 25 new initiatives taken by all the nine LGSDF Fellows and their contribution to policy-making in different areas will be unprejudiced and unbiased.
The Lt Governor advised all the mentors and reporting authorities to see the fellowship as an incubation model to find innovative solutions by working on the ideas as per given targets according to the needs of the departments, administration, common citizens, and contribute to the journey of the prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir.
Noting that each individual possesses a different potential, the Lt Governor said that the fellowship should become a perfect medium for expanding that potential. He called for prioritizing the most urgent of challenges and finding sustainable solutions.