Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 24: Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh today accused the Congress leadership, primarily the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, for not letting his own Home Minister Sardar Patel to handle Jammu & Kashmir, in the same manner as he had a free hand in handling the other princely States of India. If only Sardar Patel had been allowed to function as Home Minister, with respect to Jammu & Kashmir also, the history of Indian sub-continent would have been different and the Pak occupied part of Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) would have been a part of India today.
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Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of “DISHA” meeting, here today, Dr Singh in reference to remarks of Prof Saifuddin Soz that Patel wanted Jammu & Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan, said the fact of the history is that Prime Minister Nehru deliberately kept Sardar Patel out of scene, because he (Nehru) had a special affinity for Sheikh Abdullah and also believed that he knew Kashmir better than anyone else. As a consequence, this led to a series of blunders, which included allowing a part of Jammu & Kashmir to remain occupied by Pakistan and later also carrying the Kashmir issue to the UNO, he added.
Earlier, Dr Jitendra Singh presided over the “DISHA” (District Infrastructural Advisory) committee meeting and took a review of the targets achieved with respect to various Central schemes in Udhampur-Kathua-Doda constituency. He also disclosed that the work on upgraded airstrip at Kishtwar will begin soon to make it fit for landing of aircraft and for this, the process is almost complete for the finalisation of an MoU with the Ministry of Defence.
Dr Singh particularly took the issue of the timely completion of road projects under PMGSY. He asked the concerned officers to take up with the State Government, the issue of arranging funds for the maintenance of these roads, which are funded from the Centre. He also expressed disappointment at the late initiation of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) for rural electrification, which is still in the tendering stage.
The Union MoS issued instruction that the special nodal officer appointed for river Devika cleaning project in Udhampur should follow up the project more expeditiously and coordinate between the State and the Centre.
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