Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Apr 11: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh has hailed Kathua’s magnanimity during initial lockdown phase, soon after it was announced on 24th March.
Felicitating the people of Kathua through a video-conference meeting with prominent activists and civil society representatives on the 18th day of lockdown today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the people of Jammu & Kashmir will remember for a long time that the people of Kathua showed extraordinary magnanimity, patience and large – heartedness by offering their hospitality and services to thousands of people who got overnight stranded in this border town after the declaration of lockdown.
On one hand, he said, there was a constant stream of people coming over from the Punjab side till the border had to be finally sealed and on the other hand, there were a large number of people who were travelling towards Jammu, Udhampur and Kashmir but got held up here.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the civil society of Kathua, including elders as well as youth, had set an example by working shoulder to shoulder with the administration not only for providing food, ration and other essential commodities to the needy but also in cooperating to ensure the implementation of lockdown. He said, he was delighted to note the appreciation conveyed by the district administration.
During the meeting, it was conveyed that thousands of families were being regularly fed by voluntary organizations while the groups of activists had been regularly providing food to stranded labourers as well as travellers who were under quarantine either on their way from Punjab to Jammu or from Jammu towards Punjab and beyond. In addition, ration, food packets, santization facility and face masks were also being contributed by the civil society.
Those who participated in the video conference meeting, in two separate sessions to avoid crowding and observe social-distancing norms, included Prem Nath Dogra, Raghunandan Singh, Surender Kumar, Baldev ji, Gopal Mahajan, Shashi Pal Sharma, Manjeet Singh and others.
Soon after the video-conference meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh arranged for a meeting between the representatives of civil society and district administration, in order to ensure closer coordination in the dispensation of services, in the wake of the extension of the lock down period.
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