Srinagar: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday inaugurated the Himalayan Museum at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports in Pahalgam resort of south Kashmir.
Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to review the security preparedness, also inaugurated the Colonel K S Mall Boulder Climbing Wall, an official spokesperson said.
During his visit, the minister participated in the executive council and general body meeting of the premier mountaineering institute of the country, the spokesperson said.
Singh was accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
In his address to the 9th executive council and 4th general body meetings of the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports (JIM&WS), Sinha, according to an official press release, expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the “revolutionary ‘AGNIPATH’ scheme which will give a new identity to the youth of the country, providing better future to them.
“This historic step will motivate the youth to serve the motherland and enhance the combat potential of our Armed Forces,” he said.
He said since its inception in 1983, the JIM&WS has overcome many difficulties and challenges to carve a niche for itself in the field of adventure sports. “Not only trainees but trainers like Mahfooz Hajam have also made this institute proud with their remarkable achievements,” he said.
He said JIM&WS is always ready to serve the people and is working shoulder to shoulder with the administration during natural calamities.
JIM&WS has also become the first institute in the country to achieve a significant accomplishment by completing winter skiing courses in Sonmarg for the local and adventure sports lovers coming from all over the country, he informed.
The institute is making relentless efforts for promotion of adventure sports & mountaineering activities in the country and showing the way to other institutions, he said.
“Climbing the highest peaks is not an ordinary adventure. It’s a journey, it’s a heroic deed and it’s a search in a mysterious mountain to attain the unattainable. I urge young enthusiasts to make protection of the ecosystem an integral part of this sport and contribute in building a better society, a prosperous UT for future generations,” Sinha said.
“In last 2-3 years, Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing massive transformation in the field of sports. Last year more than 17.5 lakh youth got an opportunity to showcase their talent in various sports disciplines. Earlier, the participation in sports never crossed the 1 lakh mark and this year our aim is to achieve a record figure of 35 lakhs,” the LG said.
“We have improved our ranking and moved to 16th place in the Khelo India Youth Games which concluded in Haryana recently. I am sure that J&K will be in the top ten in the next edition,” he said.
“With state-of-the-art Indoor and outdoor stadiums; 31 Khelo India Centers; provision of play fields and sports kits in every panchayat and providing maximum opportunities to promising sportspersons, the UT of J&K has become a powerhouse of sporting talent and is moving towards achieving excellence in sports,” the LG said.
“J&K is marching ahead on the path of development, making socio-economic progress, and fulfilling the aspirations of the people. It is our commitment to reform every sector that affects the lives of common man,” he said.
The LG said that in 2018-19, “only 9,229 projects were completed; subsequently, in 2020-21, 21,943 projects were completed and in the FY 2021-22, we have achieved the historical milestone of completing 51,000 projects.”
He said that J&K has become one of the leading States/UTs in the healthcare sector. “We have achieved tremendous progress in road connectivity. Earlier, only six km of road was constructed daily in Jammu and Kashmir, but today we are building 20 km of road every day. Recently, J&K has been ranked third in performance under PMGSY.”
“We have introduced e-governance to make the governance process more transparent and citizen-friendly and in one year, J&K ranked at the top among the UTs and we will be number one across the country soon,” the LG said.
