‘Public Durbar’ at Hiranagar
Avtar Bhat
HIRANAGAR Mar 26: Taking Congress and National Conference (NC) to task Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh today accused the two parties of blatantly discriminating with the youth living along the International Border (IB) in Jammu, Samba, Hiranagar and Kathua belt.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Public Durbar held here, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Congress and NC regimes gave four percent reservations to youth living along Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Poonch districts in jobs and Higher Education while those living along IB in Jammu, Samba, Hiranagar and Kathua were totally discriminated on the basis of vote bank politics.
The Union Minister said this indiscrimination was done deliberately by these parties as the people along LoC were their supporters while those living in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts were traditional supporters of Praja Parishad founded by Prem Nath Dogra a veteran leader from Jammu.
Terming this as a worst kind of discrimination between one section of youth and another section and the people living on one section of border and those living on other section, Dr Jitendra Singh said it was the worst form of injustice to which people of Jammu were subjected to by successive Congress and NC Governments for decades together.
The Union Minister said BJP was the only party which in opposition has vociferously raised its voice against this discrimination and it struggled to end the same for over three decades. Soon after Narendra Modi came to power at Centre, he said BJP Government did not lose any time in ending this discrimination to give equal rights to the youth living on one section of the border along with those living on other section.
Dr Jitendra Singh also complimented Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for making mention of Lavender in his Maan Ki Baat today and said “I compliment PM for talking about Lavender and Aroma Mission in his Maan Ki Baat programme today’’.
The Union Minister said that people in Bhadarwah had no knowledge when the Aroma Mission was started in their area by the Government. “We took a maize field of one farmer and started cultivation of Lavender on it on experimental basis,. When it fetched good money the farmer gave his entire land for the cultivation,’’ he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said this time 2500 farmers are dealing with Lavender Cultivation in Bhadarwah area and earning a good income. The Government supported these famers in marketing. The Agri startups in J&K started from Bhadarwah, he added.
On the holding of Assembly polls in J&K Dr Jitendra Singh said it is the prerogative of Election Commission of India when to announce elections in the UT. However, BJP as a party is ready 24×7 for elections, he added.
On Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Union Minister said that the decision taken by Lok Sabha, Secretary can’t be questioned as it will be a question mark on Indian democracy.
Earlier continuing with his initiative to hold district administration meetings outside the district Headquarter, Dr. Jitendra Singh held “Public Durbar” here in presence of administrative heads and PRIs.
A number of issues were taken up on the spot, particularly pertaining to Delhi-Katra Express Highway under construction like land compensation, status of proposed Arun Jaitley Stadium, facilities provided for people living along the Zero Line of International Border etc.
Dr Jitendra Singh said bringing governance at the doorsteps of the people, to the last man in the last queue is possible only under Prime Minister, Narendra Modi whose endeavour has been after sworn in as the Prime Minister of India in 2014 to address the people’s issues on the spot through ‘Public Darbars’ with district administration.
During the ‘Public Durbar’ with district administration, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the governance cannot be restricted to the district headquarters only and a departure from this practice was necessary as has been done yesterday at Ramnagar and today at Hiranagar in order to listen to the people’s issues directly so that the same could be addressed on the spot with district administration.
Saying that the development has been brought to the last man in the queue under PM Narendra Modi, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the areas which were neglected earlier like the border districts under the previous Governments have now become the role models for the country, the best example being the border district Kathua which is considered now the epitome of development and governance in the country.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is for the first time after 20 years that hundreds of acres of border land has been brought under cultivation bringing back the lost smiles on the faces of border dwellers in Kathua which has been possible only under the present Government which believes on the mantra ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ under PM Narendra Modi.
Enumerating the various development works done in Kathua, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, Kathua is now considered as the role model of development in the country as North India’s first Biotech Park, revival of Shahpur-Kandi Project after 40 years, North India’s first ever Cable-Stayed Bridge Atal Setu, J&K’s first inter-State bridge at Keerian-Gandyal, North India’s first Express Road Corridor from Delhi to Katra via Kathua, the new National Highway from Lakhanpur-Bani-Basohli-Doda via Chattargala Tunnel, the mega quintal seed processing plants helping in doubling farmers income besides Centrally funded Government Medical College, Centrally Funded Engineering Colleges, Degree Colleges etc., have made Kathua the epitome of development in the country.
The PRI representatives present during the meeting appreciated the work done by Dr Jitendra Singh as a Member of Parliament for the development of his constituency, be that the construction of border roads to the border areas of Kathua district, bringing of border land under cultivation, the construction of highways (Express Corridor) through Kathua district, the establishment of Kendriya Vidyalayas, GMC, Degree Colleges in the district, the various works done under JJM, Rural Development, PWD etc.
During the ‘Public Durbar’, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressed certain issues on the spot related to the Delhi-Katra Express Highway like the land compensation, crossings at certain points for public convenience raised during the Public Durbar. The Minister directed the top officials of NHAI present during the Public Durbar to speed up the work on the Express Highway and also look into the genuine issues raised by the public in a time bound manner.
Others present during the programme were DDC Chairman, Kathua, Col.(retd) Mahan Singh, Deputy Commissioner Kathua, Rahul Pandey, DDC Vice-Chairman Kathua, Raghunandan Singh Bablu, President MC Hiranagar, Vijay Sharma besides BDC, DDC members, Sarpanchs and the officers of district administration.
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