Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 24: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will go ahead with their visit to Kashmir tomorrow despite the terror attacks in Srinagar today that left eight Army personnel dead and 11 injured.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu Zone, Rajesh Kumar, who was supervising security arrangements for tomorrow’s visit of Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi at Kishtwar, the first halt of the VVIPs during their two days tour of the State, said the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson would visit Kishtwar on June 25 and Banihal in Ramban district of Jammu region on June 26 as per schedule.
“There is no change in the schedule,’’ Mr Kumar, who has been camping in Banihal along with top brass of multiple security agencies, said.
“We will take care of everything,’’ he said in response to a question on heightened security measures for the visit of the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson following terror attacks in Srinagar today in which eight Army personnel were killed and another 11 were injured.
Mr Kumar said all security, Intelligence and para-military agencies were involved in security of the Prime Minister. Elite Special Security Group (SSG) commandos were already camping in Kishtwar and have sanitized Chougan ground where Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi would be laying foundation stone of Ratle Hydro Electric Power project and addressing a public meeting.
“Obviously’’, official sources said when asked whether Army was also involved in security of the VVIPs. It may be mentioned here that over half a dozen militants were still present in Kishtwar district.
Sources said the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson would reach at Udhampur air field at 9.30 am and would fly to Kishtwar in choppers. They would return to Udhampur and board plane for Srinagar, where they would meet Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his Council of Ministry at SKICC and review security and political situation besides development works especially those being executed under Centrally Sponsored Schemes. They would also release a stamp on Kashmiri poet Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor. They would meet delegations and had night stay at Raj Bhawan, where they would have detailed discussions with Governor NN Vohra.
On January 26, Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi would fly to Udhampur from Srinagar and take choppers to Banihal, where they would inaugurate Banihal-Qazigund rail link at Banihal railway station and address a public meeting before returning to Udhampur and flying back to New Delhi.
Sources said the Prime Minister is expected to announce a package for border districts of the State during his two-days visit.
The package will be for development and reconstruction of the border areas, sources said.
During his stay in Srinagar, Dr Singh will also take stock of the implementation of the Rs 37,000-crore reconstruction package for the State he had initiated in 2004 under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan (PMRP). Initially, the plan was to the tune of Rs 24,467 crores but it went up to Rs 37,000 crores due to cost escalation of various projects being executed in both Central and State sectors.
Sources said so far nearly Rs 7215 crore have been released for the State during the past nine years of the UPA rule under the PMRP, which included 67 projects/schemes in four areas covering 11 sectors of the economy.
Of these 67 projects, action has been completed on 34 projects and work is in progress on 28 others.
Preparation of proposals of three projects, their examination and approval is under process while two projects have been dropped, sources said.
The first area involved action on projects in sectors relating to power, roads and external borrowings.
Under this area, action on many schemes has been completed i.e. 1,000 Micro Hydel Projects (MHPs), across the State, additional Central assistance to Baglihar HEP, construction of Domel-Katra Road, construction of Khanabal-Pahalgam Road, examining the feasibility of Kibar-Korzok road via Parangla Pass to connect Leh with Shimla and construction of Narbal-Tangmarg Road.
The second area involved action on sectors relating to education, health and physical infrastructure for civic amenities.
Under this area, action on many projects has been completed including on extending total literacy campaign to three districts (Kargil, Poonch and Doda), training to enhance skills of youth for the IT/BPO sector, starting eight new degree colleges in Jammu region and six in Kashmir region.
Setting up 6,817 Anganwadi centres in every habitation, covering J&K under the new Central programme for better healthcare (National Rural Health Mission), development of model villages across the State, untied grants to LAHDC at Leh and Kargil and increasing frequency of flights between Kargil and Srinagar are some projects which have been completed.
Under the third area, action has been or is being taken on projects in sectors relating to tourism, agriculture and food processing, other industrial promotion related measures and other employment measures.
The projects on which action has been completed include financial support for 12 Tourism Development Authorities, assistance to travel agents for marketing etc, training of tourism industry personnel and development of skills of youth for employment/self employment in tourism industry through one year courses imparted by the Institute of Hotel Management, Srinagar.
The other schemes are rehabilitation of horticulture industry, assistance to agriculture graduates under agri-clinic scheme for self-employment, setting up an expert group on issues relating to Shahtoosh, creation of infrastructure facilities at Srinagar Airport, self-employment opportunities for urban unemployed and raising of five more Indian Reserve Battalions (IRBs) for providing employment opportunities for local youth.
About the action on projects relating to assistance to the dislocated and the families of the victims of militancy, the Government has completed projects like enhancement of outlay for Rehabilitation Council and construction of temporary shelters in the Jammu region and two-room tenements for Kashmiri migrants.
Sources said Dr Singh will release a postage stamp on renowned Kashmiri poet Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor here tomorrow.
“Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will release a postage stamp on Mehjoor at SKICC Srinagar on June 25 in presence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,” sources said.
John Samuel, Chief Post Master General Jammu and Kashmir, said the Department of Posts is bringing out the stamp on Mehjoor, a poet of great excellence and doyen of secularism.
This is the second occasion that a postage stamp on Kashmir is being released here.
In 2006, the then President A P J Abdul Kalam released a postage stamp on J-K High Court on its 150th anniversary at the same venue.
Samuel said the stamp is of Rs 5 denomination, and will be available at Srinagar GPO after its formal release. First Day Cover and information brochure will also be released on the occasion.
Samuel said release of the postage stamp on Mehjoor is a historic event for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Stamps represent cultural and historical importance of the society. The demand for the stamp on Mehjoor is expected to be very high due to his popularity as a poet,” he added.
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