‘Kishtwar North India’s power hub’
Avtar Bhat
KISHTWAR, Mar 26: Accusing the Congress of exploiting the tribal communities in J&K, Union Minister and BJP candidate for Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, Dr Jitendra Singh said in comparison to Congress party the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi conferred the democratic rights to them and other neglected and marginalised people of erstwhile State.
Addressing a massive public rally in the remote hilly area of Mughal Maidan, today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi who conferred democratic rights to Gujjars and other communities in J&K which were exploited by the Congress and National Conference (NC) for decades together.
He said earlier the people of erstwhile Doda district elected the Congress and NC representatives to both State Assembly and Parliament and these representatives were Ministers both at the Centre and in the State but they did not bother for the welfare of Gujjars or the other people of this region. The Gujjars continued to remain homeless and other people backward for decades during Congress -NC rule as the leaders of two parties did not allow them to be exposed to new India, he added.
Singh said it was during Modi Government that Gujjars realised the essence of democracy and their dream of having pacca houses was fulfilled.
While the earlier Congress Governments had discarded the Gujjar community and left them to fend for themselves and lead a life of homelessness, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is Prime Minister, Modi who came up with the idea of providing a concrete house to every household regardless of caste, creed or religion. As a result, many Gujjar families which earlier lived in makeshift shelters today own a house of their own.
He said Congress led Governments in the past exploited the Gujjar community for their vote bank interests, it is for the first time after independence that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has given the Gujjar community in Jammu & Kashmir priority along with political status by providing political reservation for contesting elections and also given them dignity by holding them in the same esteem as any other section of the society.
Dr Jitendra Singh was touched by the large number of women and members of the Gujjar community who had added zest and colour to this programme.
As for the entire region of Kishtwar is concerned, Dr Jitendra Singh said, from a neglected remote area, it has emerged as North India’s power hub and has undergone amazing transformation in the last 10 years.
Dr Singh said that Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar is all set to emerge North India’s major “power hub” generating around 6,000 MW of electricity after the completion of the ongoing power projects.
During his address and later speaking to the media, Dr Jitendra Singh said that six to seven major Hydro power projects have come in the region in a short span of nine to 10 years ever since Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister.
Elaborating on this, he pointed out that the largest capacity project is Pakal Dul with a capacity of 1000 MW. Its estimated cost, as of now, is Rs.8,112.12 crore and expected timeline of competition is 2025. Another major project is Kiru Hydroelectric project with a capacity of 624 MW. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 4,285.59 crore and the timeline in this case is also 2025, he said.
The Minister further informed that at the same time, 850 MW Ratle project has been revived as a joint venture between the Centre and UT of J&K. In addition, the existing Dulhasti Power Station has an installed capacity of 390 MW, while Dulhasti II Hydroelectric project will have a capacity of 260 MW.
Singh said these projects shall not only augment the power supply position thereby, making up for the shortage of power supply in the UT of J&K, but the huge investment being made for construction of these projects is also a boost for direct as well as indirect opportunities for the local people.
For six long decades, the successive governments at the Centre and the State had ignored Kishtwar region because of their vote bank politics. It was only after Prime Minister Modi took over that he changed the work culture and ensured that all neglected regions would be given their due attention and priority so that they may also rise to the same level, he added.
For example, he said, for several years, people here had been agitating and demanding a Degree College for Paddar but Congress and National Conference Governments deliberately ignored this demand. It was only after Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took over in 2014 that a Degree College was sanctioned for Paddar under Centre’s scheme RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan).
Citing another example, Dr Jitendra Singh said that before 2014, road travel to Kishtwar was cumbersome and on the slightest landside, the Doda-Kishtwar road got blocked. But today, the road travel time from Jammu to Kishtwar has reduced from over 7 hours in 2014 to less than 5 hours now. Similarly, he said, during these nine years, Kishtwar has come up on the Aviation Map of India and has been sanctioned an airport under Centre’s UDAAN Scheme, which nobody had ever imagined.
Similarly, Singh said, three new National Highways , a series of Degree Colleges, mobile towers enroute Machail Yatra and other remote areas have also come up during the Modi Government.
As far as Machail is concerned Dr Jitendra Singh said, mobile towers have been set up, multiple toilet complexes constructed and solar plants installed for regular power supply, and all this happened only after 2014. Not only this, the motorable road to Machail is under fast track construction and the day is not far when Kishtwar to Machail travel would be just about one to two hours, he added.
Former Minister Sunil Sharma, BJP district president Chuni Lal, Tariq Keen and other local leaders also spoke on the occasion.
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