Neeraj Rohmetra
Jammu, May 22: UPA Report card, which had been released in New Delhi by Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, has pointed out towards considerable improvement in terms of peace and tranquility and on all parameters of terrorist violence in the border State of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Kashmir valley has been comparatively free of major law and order problem and the number of incidents of violence in 2012 were lowest since the start of insurgency in J&K about two decades ago”, says the Report which has been released on occasion of completion of four years of the UPA Government.
Commenting on the issue of internal security, the Report says, “the Internal Security situation in the country has shown signs of considerable improvement over the previous years. The level of infiltration from across the border and the resultant terrorist activities in Kashmir showed significant decline”, adding, “terrorism in the hinterland remained largely under control”.
“The Government remained committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through bilateral dialogue, in an atmosphere free from terror and violence”, says the Report while referring to its foreign policy.
The Government in the Report has emphasized that normalization of relations with Pakistan requires that the latter takes credible action against terrorist groups and dismantles the related infrastructure on its soil, and should implement the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) already agreed upon by both the countries.
“Incident like the one that occurred on January 8, 2013 in which two Indian soldiers were beheaded in Mendhar area along the Line of Control (LoC) by Pakistani forces will continue to pose a challenge to our efforts”, says the report categorically.
The document says, “India has always desired close, constructive and friendly relations with its neighbours. Its policies are guided by the strong belief that a stable, prosperous, democratic and peaceful neighbourhood is in the interest of all the countries in the region”.
Further, elaborating on various initiatives by the UPA Government in the State being ruled by NC-Congress Coalition Government, the Report says, “continuing with the Skill Empowerment and Employment Scheme called ‘Himayat’ and the Special Industry Initiative known as ‘Udaan’, until now 5628 youth had been trained under the former, of which 2,642 had been placed”. Under the latter, 221 candidates had completed training, of which 110 were offered jobs while six candidates want to start their own ventures.
Referring to Kashmiri migrants, the Report says, “implementation of Prime Minister’s package for return and rehabilitation of migrants continued this year. For transit accommodation, 405 units have been constructed until now. During this year, cash relief to the eligible Kashmiri migrants staying in Jammu and Delhi was enhanced from Rs 1250 per head per month to Rs 1650. The ceiling for such relief was also raised from Rs 5000 to Rs 6,600”.
“An allocation of Rs 300 crore has been made for implementing the projects recommended for Jammu and Ladakh region. Work on most of the project recommended by Special Task Force for twin regions have been started”, the report says.
On the issue of Lake conservation, the Reports says, “for resettlement and rehabilitation of families living in and around Dal and Nageen lakes in Srinagar, an amount of Rs 83.18 crores was released”.
On efforts aimed at countering terrorism, the Report says, “the strengthening and re-organisation of the Multi-Agency (MAC) Centres/ Subsidiary Multi-Agency Centre (SMAC) and the setting up of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), is also underway”.