Jammu: Extending his greetings to all on the occasion of 73rd Republic Day, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha has said that that it is the day of introspection, an occasion when every citizen has to remind himself of his duty to protect and further nourish the ideals and achievements of the nation.
In his Republic Day address, LG paid tributes to the Jawans and officers of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and other Central Security Forces, ‘who continue to make supreme sacrifice for unity and integrity of the motherland’.
“While saluting their valor and sacrifices, we should also take a pledge to eradicate terrorism and terror ecosystem perpetuated by the neighboring country”, said the Lt Governor.
He said that after the historic changes in August 2019, Jammu and Kashmir is poised to become the latest success story among Indian states and a model of Socio-Economic development for the country.
“The government is committed to build a strong Jammu and Kashmir and we will continue to march ahead with Mantra of 4 P’s — Peace, Progress, Prosperity and People first. We are determined to ensure every single citizen of UT enjoys prosperous and peaceful life,” he said.
He highlighted the co-existence of various religions enriching and diversifying Jammu and Kashmir’s cultural heritage and making the Union Territory an example of immortal organic composite Indian culture.
Listing the developments made in the UT, the LG said that J&K is fast moving towards becoming a powerful and self-reliant Union Territory by improving the standard of living of farmers, youth, women, laborers and every citizen of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that under new industrial policy, investment proposals worth Rs 48,000 crores have been received so far, adding, the land use change policy which was a major impediment for the industrial development of the region has been simplified which is likely to attract more investment.
The Lt Governor assured the “land owners and farmers that all these changes have been effected with the sole aim of empowering them. There is a section in the society which has always been misleading the people about imaginary issues like demographic change, and on this pretext the most hardworking and needy class of people had been deprived of alienated their own land, or even using it as per their wishes or requirements.”
The Lt Governor reiterated administration’s commitment to promoting local businesses in real estate sector. Jammu and Kashmir recently hosted the first-ever historic Real Estate summit in December 2021, in which investment proposals worth Rs 18,300 crores were finalized.
He also highlighted the investments attracted by J&K in the recently concluded Dubai Expo saying and investment proposals worth Rs. 3000 crore were finalized in a short span of two days only.
“In total, a target of investment proposal worth Rs 70,000 crores has been achieved within a year”, the Lt Governor added.
He also spoke about Jammu and Kashmir Private Industrial Estate Development Policy, which incorporates mechanisms for Public-Private Partnership in the Industrial Sector.
On employment front, LG said that about11,000 appointments have been made in various government departments in a fair and transparent manner, further, 20,323 additional posts at various levels have been identified and referred to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board for recruitment.
“Besides, 1850 appointments have been made in J&K Bank at various levels in a fair and transparent manner. As many as 1,37,870 youths have been provided assistance in their entrepreneurial ventures under various self-employment generation schemes and programmes”, he added.
The Lt Governor underscored the initiatives taken for channelizing the enormous potential of our youth and ensuring their participation in the process of governance listing the initiatives under Mission Youth.
Maintaining that project delay which was earlier considered a norm is now a thing of the past, LG said that against 9229 projects completed in 2018 at a cost of Rs. 67,000 crores, around 21,943 projects have been completed at a cost of Rs. 63,000 crore only in the current year.
He said that J&K has become the first Union Territory/State in the country to have District Good Governance Index for assessing the efficiency of public delivery system at district level and fostering transparency and accountability in the basic unit of governance.
While highlighting the milestones achieved in power generation, distribution and transmission sector to improve the power sector, the Lt Governor said that “this year we are going to add capacity of 3,015 MVA to our Power Transmission System as against the capacity addition of only 670 MVA last year. Likewise, in Power Distribution Sector, a capacity of 1286 MVA is being added this year as against the capacity addition of 690 MVA last year. In comparison to last year, the Kashmir Valley is getting 22 percent more electricity supply owing to improved infrastructure. We have tried to provide adequate electricity to the entire Union Territory during the recent winters and are also hopeful to provide more electricity to Jammu Division during the forthcoming summer season, he added.
He said that an amount of rupees one lakh crore is being spent on road and tunnel infrastructure. Jammu and Kashmir, which once stood at 10th, 11th position in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), has secured the third rank in the country. Till the year 2018, on an average, 1500 to 1600 kms of road length used to be constructed each year; the same has now more than doubled to 3200 kilometers. Similarly, around 2200 to 2300 kilometers of road length used to be macadamized each year which also has more than doubled to 5137 kilometers. We will achieve the target of record 8000 km of road macadamization by the end of this financial year, the Lt Governor said.
He also spoke about the travel time reduced from 10 hours to 5 hours between Srinagar and Jammu and operation of Srinagar-Sharjah flights.
The Lt Governor expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all the doctors, nurses and healthcare workers who are engaged in selfless service to humanity.
“Today Jammu and Kashmir has emerged as a model for the entire country in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. With 100% vaccination of the eligible population, we have crossed the 20 million vaccine dose mark. In the 15-17 age group, the Union Territory has achieved remarkable 63% target of the vaccination and four districts of Anantnag, Ganderbal, Shopian and Poonch have achieved 100% target in this age group”, he added.
He also listed the achievements made in J&K’s health sector.
The Lt Governor observed that Peace in Jammu and Kashmir is a prerequisite for a vibrant tourism sector, which of late has set new employment and revenue generation records. Between August and November 2021, about 52 lakh tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir.
Retreating J&K Government’s commitment towards the welfare of the people of the tribal community who were neglected by the previous governments, the Lt Governor said while present dispensation trying to give physical shape to their hopes and aspirations, a tiny section is trying hard to provoke and mislead them.
The Lt Governor underscored the ground-breaking initiatives taken by the government towards empowering the women of J&K saying for the first time, 15% reservation in favour of women in non-gazetted police jobs has been provided.
Commenting about displaced Kashmiri Hindus, LG said: “We are committed to provide justice to the citizens who were forced to leave their homes due to onset of terrorism in 90s. So far, 7312 applications have been received through Kashmir Migrant Portal launched last year for addressing their grievances, out of which 4826 cases have been resolved.”
The Lt Governor urged the youth to be a part of this great journey of development on this beautiful land of peaceful coexistence, enlightenment, salvation and make invaluable contribution in the enormous intellectual capital of the Union Territory.
“On this auspicious occasion of Republic Day, people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic are in my thoughts and prayers. Every citizen has a very important role in building healthy and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir. We must follow Covid Appropriate Behavior and fight the pandemic with the spirit of a big joint family”, the Lt Governor observed.
