Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Sept 8: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed here that he has strongly recommended reservation in higher education institutions and Government jobs for the children of people living along the International Border (IB), on the same lines as is already available for those living along the Line of Control (LoC), in Jammu & Kashmir.
He said, it is unfair to allow discrimination between one part of the border and the other part, and if this exists, it is possibly an outcome of extraneous motives of the leadership or the Government, which was at the helm when this provision was introduced. He hoped that, very shortly, under the Governor’s rule, this anomaly will stand corrected.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who was speaking to media persons after addressing a Conference on Defence & Homeland Security organized by PHD Chambers of Commerce, said that he had also taken up another border related issue with the Union Minister for Telecommunication, Manoj Sinha.
This, he said, related to providing WLL services for telecommunication by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for people living along the International Border. He said, considering the fact that these residents live in peripheral areas of International Border where the usual telecom companies and servers do not provide sufficient towers, WLL services from BSNL can prove to be a great relief.
Earlier, in his address, as chief guest, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India’s defence capability today is second to none, but at the same time, we have succeeded in proving to the world that we are not a nation which will ever harm another nation.
“He quoted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had said after the Pokhran nuclear explosion that this was not meant to attack any country, but to tell the world that we had the capacity to pay back in equal measure to any kind of aggression from others.
Lauding the exemplary services rendered by the Army and para-military forces in Jammu & Kashmir and Northeast, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “our security forces have proved that they are the best in the world and also capable of performing in the most unfriendly circumstances.” Therefore, he said, it is not only unfair, but it is also a sin for any one to say or do anything which could directly or indirectly lower the morale of our security forces, who are making supreme sacrifices so that all of us can live in peace and carry on with our routine as we desire.
Paying rich tributes to the founder of India’s Nuclear Programme Dr Homi Bhabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, when Homi Bhabha said that our nuclear programme is dedicated to peaceful purposes, nobody would have believed him, but today we stand vindicated. “In the times to come, nuclear/atomic energy is going to be a major source to meet the growing energy needs of India,” he added.
Not only this, Dr Jitendra Singh said, under the Modi Government, in the last four years, India’s nuclear programme, which was hitherto confined mostly to South India, has become truly pan-India. He said, just over a 100 kms away from the national capital of New Delhi, an Atomic Energy Plant is coming up in the town of Gorakhpur in Haryana, which will shortly start producing nuclear electricity for our energy needs at a very competitive price.
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