Radha Krishna Mathur, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh announced Block Development Fund to all the 31 blocks of Ladakh on June 1.

₹1 crore to each block provisioned for the FY 2021-22  is announced to empower the Panchayati Raj Institutions of Ladakh.

According to the order issued by the Rural Development Department the plans to be undertaken under this fund will be approved by the BDC Chairpersons in plan formulations meeting of the Block Development Councils. Such plans will be sourced from every panchayat of the block. It has also been mentioned in the order that only new works of public importance will be taken up and such works which can be completed in one year and will have tangible benefits to the residents will be executed.

Saugat Biswas, Secretary of Rural Development, Ladakh said, “The UT administration has been undertaking various steps for the empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions. The Sarpanches and the BDC Chairpersons have consistently been sent for capacity building programmes to apex Institutions of the country such as NIRD Hyderabad, State Training Academy Uttarakhand etc. The provisioning of the Block Development Fund by the administration will enable the grassroots democracy to fulfil their ground-level requirements.” 

Skalzang Dorjey, BDC, Chairman Leh while expressing his gratitude to UT administration said, “After the BDC election all the Chairman and Chairperson have been requesting LG, RK Mathur to release the Block Development Fund soon. Now, this fund would be used for local development works. Earlier, there used to be a lack of funds but now we can use this fund to bring development in these 31 blocks of Ladakh.”

Similarly, Zakir Hussain, BDC Chairman, Sodh Block Kargil said, “The Block Development Fund will help us in bringing grassroots development in the rural areas.”