‘PM overcame challenge like Himalayas to make JK permanent part of India’
Those helping Pak were rewarded, pro-India people faced disrespect
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 10: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today said discrimination has ended and so is almost terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and strong will of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who overcame a challenge as big as the Himalayas, made J&K a permanent part of India, which is a historic decision.
Speaking at ET Now Global Business Summit 2024 and addressing the ‘Sushasan Mahotsav 2024’ organized by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in New Delhi today, Sinha said Jammu and Kashmir has achieved what was earlier considered as unthinkable, thus, fulfilling long standing wishes and aspirations of the people.
“The discrimination has ended and so has terrorism,” he said.
The change, according to him, happened because of the sacrifice of (Jana Sangh founder) Syama Prasad Mookerjee, devotion of others and the strong political will of Narendra Modi who overcame a challenge as big as the Himalayas and made Jammu and Kashmir a permanent part of India, which is historic.
The Lieutenant Governor recalled that Parliament was informed about the thousands of people going across the border for “guerrilla training” in Jammu and Kashmir but it was an irony that those helping Pakistan were being rewarded while pro-India people faced disrespect.
He reiterated that sounds of gunfire and bombs in Kashmir have been replaced by the noise of development which has gone up 10 times as compared to the past.
“Stone pelting and strikes at the behest of Pakistan have become history. Today’s reality is that the youth are holding the tricolour with pride. Cinema halls have resume functioning in the Valley after 30 years and markets no long wear a deserted look,” Sinha said, adding that there is now noise of development in the Union Territory and not gunfire and bombs following abrogation of Article 370 granting special status to erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Holding Article 370 responsible for terrorism and separatism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Lt Governor took a dig at previous Governments and accused them of pushing Jammu and Kashmir into turmoil.
“They are talking big about democracy and development but they are the ones who have snatched the rights of the youth,” he said, without naming any group or party.
Referring to a couple of speeches of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Parliament, he aptly highlighted the pain of the people by raising genuine points that it is a shame that even a Prime Minister has no power to buy a piece of land in Jammu and Kashmir or the Parliament has no mandate to seek accounts of the money pumped into Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor said the time has changed as his administration restored the rule of law and ensured fast-paced development with money from the Central Government spent in a transparent manner.
Sinha asserted that good governance has finally become a reality in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Jammu and Kashmir is marching ahead like any other part of India with nightlife and cinema halls making a comeback; he said and added that his administration has acted tough on supporters of Pakistan to restore the rule of law”.
“There was no relation between good governance and J-K for a very long time since independence. In my 40 months of personal experience, J-K is now being counted among States having good governance which I am considering as a big achievement,” Sinha said.
The credit for the change in the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has achieved targets that were considered impossible, he said, referring to the abrogation of Article 370.
He said that as many as 154 Government employees were removed from service after they were found involved in terror activities. Action against such people will continue, he asserted.
He said as many as 92,565 projects were completed during the last financial year compared to the highest of 9,229 projects in a financial year a few years back.
“Before formulation of a new industrial policy in 2021, an investment of just Rs 14,000 crore was made in the private sector in J-K. We have got Rs 90,000 crore investment proposals and we are making efforts to ensure that these proposals are implemented on the ground within a year,” he said.
Home Minister Amit Shah’s appeal to industrialists to invest in Jammu and Kashmir at a summit in Gujarat has also seen positive result as many businessmen have come forward with their proposals to invest in J-K which is basically an investment in integration of the UT with rest of the country, Sinha said.
In the area of e-governance service delivery, the Lt Governor said J-K has achieved a significant milestone by providing over 1,028 services in online mode surpassing Madhya Pradesh at the top of the list in the country.
The back to village programme of the Government to reach out to people at their doorsteps is a grand success with over 92,000 youths provided necessary support, including finance for self-employment compared to 75,000 last year, he said.
In addition, seven lakh women were linked to self-help groups in J-K where Rs 20 lakh e-transactions are happening on a daily basis.
He also referred to Prime Minister Modi’s vision of making the country future ready and said his administration has evolved its own version of good governance under the broad guiding principles and strategy called “future-ready governance”.
“I like to sum up in just three terms of two words each making a total of six words – future driven, tech assisted and human centric – and we have developed powerful conceptual framework clearly specifying what each of these terms mean and how they are integrated creating a futuristic model for good governance,” he said.
Earlier, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha addressed the ‘Sushasan Mahotsav 2024’ organized by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in New Delhi, today.
He said the UT Administration has already initiated pilot projects, to work both as Proofs of Concept and as also models for communicating the novel and innovative ideas embedded in the framework.
“We are concurrently setting up new adaptive and resilient systems, to develop organizational capacity to deliver precisely and effectively to each citizen,” he added.
The Lt Governor said the Human-Centric element of Future-Ready Governance will have two components.
The first will focus on all Governmental employees, with a view to empower and energize them as the lead instrument of transformation. The second will focus on citizens as partners in developing our priorities and working modalities, in sync with their needs and aspirations, he observed.
Addressing the special session on UT of Jammu Kashmir, the Lt Governor shared the reforms and the vision of the Administration to improve policy performance and address future challenges.
“Future Ready Governance is not a theoretical concept or a model. For us, this is the beginning of the journey to impact and improve the life of every person in Jammu & Kashmir,” he observed.
“We intend to equip ourselves fully to develop “Future-Driven” strategies and will continue to blaze new pathways for this journey,” the Lt Governor said.
He said the Administration is looking at scientific tools like Artificial Intelligence & Big Data based Strategic Foresight to be able to visualize evidence and data-based future scenarios.
We are considering the setting up of “Centre for New Age Governance” (CNAG), for providing necessary knowledge inputs and capacity building support, the Lt Governor observed.
The Lt Governor also paid homage to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Rambhau Mhalgi, and remembered their significant contributions to the nation building.
Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Vice-Chairman, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini; Harshvardhan Tripathi, senior journalist; prominent personalities from diverse fields and members of Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini organization were present.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
