Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Apr 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured all possible support to the PDP-BJP coalition Government in effective implementation of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir.
The assurance in this regard was given by Mr. Modi during his meeting with the Group of Minister of the Coalition Government, which called on him at the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi this morning, reliable sources informed the Excelsior.
During the hour-long meeting, the Group of Ministers, led by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, apprised the Prime Minister about various issues of Jammu and Kashmir and the promises made by the coalition Government in this regard, sources added.
Issues of rehabilitation of flood hit people, permanent settlement of refugees, controversy over AIIMS and prevailing financial crunch in the State, etc came up for discussion in the first ever meeting of the Group of Ministers with the Prime Minister, held at PMO from 11.30 a.m to 12.30 pm, sources further said.
The delegation comprised of Haseeb Drabu, Finance Minister J&K; Choudhary Sukhnandan, the Minister for PHE Irrigation and Flood Control; Abdul Haq Khan, the Minister for Rural Development Department and Panchayati Raj and Jugal Kishore Sharma, State BJP president. The meeting was earlier scheduled on April 28 but was pre-poned because of the other engagements of the Prime Minister.
According to the sources, the Group of Minister demanded special relief package for rehabilitation of the flood-hit victims in Jammu and Kashmir, which was devastated by the natural calamity in September last. The Prime Minister was urged that the relief package should be released immediately so that rehabilitation work could be started as early as possible.
Demands of permanent settlement of refugees, special recruitment drives, relief for border migrants and allotment of small piece of land for them for residential purpose in safer areas, distribution of ration under PDS as per 20111 census were effectively projected before the Prime Minister, sources informed.
During the meeting with Prime Minister, the ongoing controversy over the issue of setting up AIIMS in Kashmir also came up for discussion. The BJP Ministers informed Mr Modi about the prevailing resentment among Jammu people over the issue and a complete bandh observed in the region on April 24, sources explained.
Several other issues, like massive damage to the crop because of untimely recent rains and relief for farmers also came up for discussion during the meeting.
The Group of Ministers also apprised the Prime Minister over the prevailing financial crunch in the State and sought the latter’s intervention to avoid the situation from getting further worsened, sources said.
The Prime Minister keenly listened to the Ministers and put some queries on different issues besides seeking their suggestions. He assured that the Central Government was committed for all possible help to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the State Government for effective implementation of the Common Minimum Programme of the PDP-BJP alliance.
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