Development reaching remotest areas during last 8 yrs
Nishikant Khajuria
UDHAMPUR, Aug 25: Maintaining that youth of Jammu and Kashmir was highly aspirational and wishes to move on the path of development, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today called for making them part of India’s growth journey under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“They (J&K youth) have talent and potential also but need handholding and proper awareness besides change of mindset so that they can become part of India’s journey towards growth and secure their future,” he said while talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function at Pancheri, here today.
In response to a query, the Union Minister said that even common Kashmiri does not want to remain deprived of the opportunities being provided by the Modi regime and the only thing stopping them for becoming part of development journey was a veil of terrorism, which has also been removed to a great extent.
“Terrorism is almost in finishing stage and the change is evident from the slogans like Bharat Mata Ki Jai being aired and national tricolor fluttering everywhere during the Independence Day celebrations across the Kashmir valley,” said Dr Jitendra Singh.
Earlier, addressing an impressive gathering after paying obeisance at the Sankri temple at Pancheri, Dr Jitendra Singh listed his achievements as Member of Parliament and described Udhampur, Kathua, Doda as among the most developed Lok Sabha constituencies of the country during last eight years of the Modi government.
Maintaining that, development during this period has reached remotest parts of the region which stood neglected during the earlier regimes, he said, this was possible because of PM Modi’s motto of development without any vote consideration.
“We have followed the culture of providing what was required at whatever place so that there is equitable development of every area and in doing so we have simply followed the bottomline of reaching out to the most needy pockets of region and delivering justice to all, appeasement to none, without any considerations of vote politics and without thinking as to whether the people of that area vote for us or not,” he added.
On the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh also dedicated to the public a Community Hall constructed from his MP LAD funds. He said, during his last visit to Pancheri, there were three or four main demands, most of which he had sought to fulfill and one of these was the demand for a Community Hall.
The other demand, he said, was to develop Pancheri as a tourist spot and added that this demand has been fulfilled because Pancheri is selected among the list of places of J&K which are to be included in the tourist itinerary. He said the other demand for having a tourist hub has also been fulfilled for the construction of these tourist hubs, while the installation of a new Power Project will address the grievance of long hours of power cuts which the people had to face earlier.
While referring to the pamphlet based on 75 important developmental works done in Udhampur-Kathua- Doda Lok Sabha constituency during the last eight years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the hallmark has been that not only several national projects were initiated and several held up projects resumed, but there were historic projects brought here for which no public demand was ever made. “But as elected representative, I tried to study and do research to decide which area had the potential for which project,” he said and added that accordingly, North India’s first River Rejuvenation Project was started at Udhampur river Devika while India’s longest express road corridor between Delhi and Katra would be completed in the next one year.
Similarly, he further said, the country’s 2nd Vande Bharat express train was started between Katra and Delhi and the world’s highest railway bridge is nearly to complete in Reasi for which lot of efforts had to be made to come out with appropriate Rail alignment which could negotiate the hilly terrain to connect Kashmir with the rest of India.
“Udhampur- Kathua- Doda is possibly the only Lok Sabha constituency in the country, which got three Centrally funded Medical Colleges in a short span of time,” said Dr Jitendra Singh.
DDC Chairman Udhampur Lal Chand, J&K BJP Vice-President Pawan Khajuria and BDC Chairman Jeevan Lal, among others, also spoke on the occasion and lauded the massive developments in the region during Dr Jitendra Singh’s term as MP.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
