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Lok Sabha
The Army has undertaken small scale development and community projects for the benefit of the civilians, in the State of Jammu and Kashmir where troops are deployed to combat terrorism and insurgency.
Salient features of ‘Operation (Op) Sadbhavana’ are as follows :-
- Projects which are most required by the local population and have the support of the State Government are considered.
- The programme concentrates on projects at the village level. The focus of attention are womenfolk and youth in village society. Maximum use is made of indigenous labour both skilled and unskilled.
- The Army generally assists in planning, extension of technical assistance, provisioning of material resources and supervision.
- On the successful completion of projects they are handed over to the civil administration/village council/local bodies/cooperatives for further operation, maintenance and upkeep.
The details of fund allocated for ‘Op Sadbhavana’ since 1998/99 are as under :-
1998-1999 - Rs. 4 Crores
1999-2000 - Rs. 4 Crores
2000-2001 - Rs. 8.4 Crores
2001-2002 - Rs. 10 Crores
2002-2003 - Rs. 11 Crores
2003-2004 - Rs. 14 Crores
2004-2005 - Rs. 41 Crores
2005-2006 - Rs. 55.92 Crores
There are inputs from the local level which suggest that the implementation of the civic action programme under ‘Op Sadbhavana’ has been found to have an extremely positive impact on the minds of the local population. The programmes under ‘Op Sadbhavana’ have been widely acclaimed and have helped in mitigating the hardships of a common man. The local population is interacting with the Army without hesitation. The projects under educational schemes, women empowerment centers, adult education programmes, the IT education or the numerous community development projects undertaken by the Army have helped in generation of employment and transformed many lives.
This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in a written reply to Shri Braja Kishore Tripathy in Lok Sabha today.
SKS / PS
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