JAMMU, Mar 7: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on Compliance Reduction and Deregulation 2.0, a nationwide initiative aimed at easing regulatory burdens and fostering a more business-friendly, citizen-focused environment in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We must strive to make life easier not just for industry, but for ordinary citizens as well,” the Chief Minister said, highlighting this core governance principle.
Phase 1 of the programme had identified 23 priority reform areas, all of which were successfully implemented. Phase 2 expands this framework to cover 23 new critical sectors, including Healthcare, Education, Tourism, Industry, and other key areas.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Ministers Sakeena Itoo, Javed Ahmed Rana, and Javid Ahmad Dar, along with Chief Minister’s Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani. Also present were Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary Dheeraj Gupta, Financial Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary of the Power Development Department Ashwani Kumar, Financial Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary of Tourism Dr. Ashish Chandra Verma, and other senior officials.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary presented the current status of reforms, highlighting efforts to significantly reduce the number of permissions required to start and run a business. The Chief Minister conducted a detailed review of each intervention area, seeking specific timelines from concerned departments. He stressed that regulations should streamline systems rather than create unnecessary hurdles for citizens and businesses, calling for simpler, more direct processes and a visible reduction in red tape.
Key priority areas discussed included land use planning to ease building permissions and industrial land allocation, removal of dual licensing requirements, and strengthening the role of a nodal agency for industrial approvals. For the Education sector, the focus was on simplifying minimum requirement norms for private institutions, while in Healthcare, the discussion centered on streamlining medical practitioner registration through a unified licensing system.
At the systemic level, measures to enhance digital governance were reviewed. These included establishing an auto-appeal mechanism under the Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA) for time-bound service delivery, creating a centralized digital repository of all state acts, rules, regulations, and government orders, and conducting regular reviews to assess the relevance of regulations. Reducing end-to-end turnaround times on the Single Window System was also emphasized.
