Srinagar: People’s Democratic Party Youth President and parliamentary candidate for Srinagar-Pulwama Constituency, Waheed Ur Rehman Parra, here on Monday addressed massive public meetings in several areas of Pulwama district.
He was accompanied by several party functionaries. Hundreds of people gathered in Abhama, Rajpora, and other areas of Pulwama to welcome the PDP Youth President during his roadshow.
Addressing the Public meeting in Rajpora, Parra said that PDP will rigorously pursue the return of power projects from NHPC and will leave no stone unturned to press the government in the Parliament to return our power projects if voted in the coming elections. He said that “We will fight to reclaim our resources and will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they are returned to us. Under the leadership of PDP President Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba, the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are determined to fight for their rights and the betterment of their homeland,” Parra added. He urged the people of the state to stand united in this endeavour and support the party’s efforts to reclaim what rightfully belongs to them. Among the people of the state, the issue of power projects is the prime issue of their survival because everything these days depends on power, he added.
Parra emphasized that the PDP stands firm in its commitment to fight for the return of electricity projects that have been transferred to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). He emphasized that only by reclaiming these projects can the dream of free electricity for our people be realized. Parra said that we will fight for the restoration of NHPC’s power projects to ensure electricity is not expensive in the Kashmir valley.
He mentioned that over the years, numerous electricity projects, vital for the development and prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir, have been handed over to NHPC by previous governments other than PDP. This transfer has not only deprived the state of its rightful resources but has also hindered the progress of our region.
PDP has from the very beginning been against such a surrender of state resources and rejected the proposal of handing over Ratle when it was in power. It goes to the credit of PDP that it made the people of Jammu and Kashmir aware of their rights which had been given away at their back by previous governments since they were working only as power brokers and commission agents, he said.
Parra asserted that it was after 2002 that these issues were being debated in Jammu and Kashmir, whether it was JK Bank, an extension of central laws, or the sell-out of power projects. The electricity projects in question are an essential asset for the development of Jammu and Kashmir. They hold the potential to provide ample electricity to every household, industry, and institution. However, their transfer to NHPC has created obstacles in the path towards achieving this goal. Parra said that the rightful ownership of these projects lies with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Parra demanded that the Centre should return power projects to Jammu and Kashmir without wasting any further time so that hundreds of crores of rupees spent on the import of electricity are saved. The exploitation of water resources of Jammu and Kashmir by NHPC appears not to be for the benefit of the people of the state, he added.
