Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha has said that when he took charge of the Union Territory, his main focus was on two main issues – to establish authority of the Indian State and to ensure full integration of Jammu and Kashmir.
“And under the able leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Home Minister, Amit Shah, we have achieved both the goals,” Sinha said during an interview with APB.
Sinha is completing five years in the office on August 07, 2025. Commenting on his tenure he said that his administration’s mantra was four “P’s” – Peace, Prosperity, Progress and People first.
Expressing satisfaction that good work has been done on all four fronts, LG said that there were times that on the instructions of neighbouring country, there would be strikes and bandhs and youth would be on the streets pelting stones.
“The strikes and stone pelting are things of past. What we see today is a peaceful Kashmir where cinema halls are open, people are enjoying nightlife,” he said, adding, after 32 years, we had peaceful Muharran processions and the Yatra of Baba Amarnath is going on smoothly.
He said that his administration has been able to restore the peoples’ faith in the system.
On prosperity and progress, LG said that during past five years, J&K’s economy has doubled and there have been so many openings for employment generation in all sectors be it tourism, HADP, Handicrafts, Handlooms etc.
Reacting to the concerns of the youth that unemployment still remains biggest challenge, LG said that though during past five years, 40 to 42 thousand youths have been provided government jobs, everyone can’t be provided a government job.
Youth have got jobs in industries, HAPD, tourism trade, through self employment schemes and the process is on.
“Under self help group scheme, almost 8 to 9 lakh women are making a dignified earning,” he said, adding, “Because the youth are seeing things changing that is their expectations are high and that is the success of our policies. It is big change that instead of thinking of stone pelting, youth are talking about employment.”
Commenting on his mission “people first”, the LG said that his administration has launched a process of rehabilitating the victims of terror violence who were forgotten and abandoned by respective regimes and mentioned his handing over some 40 job letters to the kin of such victims.
When asked, what take his administration almost five years to understand the plight of victims of terror, LG regretted that this issue was not brought into his notice.
“7/8 months back I met a terror victim family at Raj Bhawan and came to know about their plight. We started working on the issue and came to know about the injustices,” LG said, adding, he has put the administration on the job, helplines have been established, complaints are coming in and tese are being confirmed and necessary action take.
Citing the example of Union Home Minister handing over job letters to the kin of victims of Pakistani shelling during Operation Sindoor, LG said, we have the existing law to help and rehabilitate the families whose members fell to the violence of enemy.
Talking about Pahalgam terror attack and its impact on tourism, LG said that the state government, his administration and the union government are jointly working on to restore the confidence of the people of the country to visit Kashmir.
“Yatra of Baba Amarnath is going on smoothly, we are expecting 4 lakh pilgrims. They will be our brand ambassadors and will convey to minimum 40 lakh people to visit Kashmir,” LG said.
