Discernible change in Kashmir; days of strikes, stone pelting are gone: Dr Jitendra

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressing a BJYM rally at Ramban on Sunday. -Excelsior/Parvez
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressing a BJYM rally at Ramban on Sunday. -Excelsior/Parvez

‘Cong-NC deliberately neglected hilly regions’
Avtar Bhat
RAMBAN, Nov 13 : Justifying that there is a discernible change in the ground situation in Kashmir valley, Union Minister in PMO with Independent Charge of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that gone are the days when strikes were held in Kashmir, on the call of Pakistan or separatist organisations during the visit of a Minister from Delhi.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a BJYM rally here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said recently Home Minister, Amit Shah visited J&K and held three mammoth public rallies in which the slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ rented the air. This is for the first time that there was no strike in Kashmir on the visit of Union Minister which shows that the ground situation has changed for better in the Valley.
He, while expressing concern over the selective killings by militants in Kashmir, said they (militants) are under constant pressure of the security forces and are now on run. They, however, hit the soft targets in desperation, he added.
Click here to watch video
Admitting that there can be no compensation to human loss, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Government is on the job and it has also taken a serious note of selective killings and no one will be spared for these inhuman and dastardly acts.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that for the first time in over last three decades record number of tourists visited Kashmir valley and there are no incidents of stone pelting reported from anywhere in Kashmir. This marks a change in the ground situation in Kashmir, he added.
In response to a question about the holding of Assembly elections in the UT of J&K, Dr Jitendra Singh said the Election Commission of India (ECI) has to take a decision in this regard. He totally rejected that Election Commission is functioning on the dictates of Government and maintained that it is an autonomous body.
He said during earlier Governments it was working on the directions of ruling parties but under Modi it is working totally independently and regarding holding of elections in J&K final decisions lies with Election Commission. He, however, said “BJP is always in the election mood 24x7x365 whether it is Panchayat, Local Bodies, Municipal, Block, DDC or Assembly and Parliament our worker is always ready”.
Accusing the Congress-National Conference Governments in the past of deliberately neglecting the hilly region, while addressing the rally, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that the Congress- National Conference governments in the past deliberately neglected hilly regions while Prime Minister Narendra Modi give a special focus to these areas.
Addressing the public rally here after ceremonially walking through the newly constructed Jhula Bailey Suspension Bridge, which has replaced the earlier one that was declared unsafe, Dr Jitendra Singh said, several decades old bridge was unsafe and accident prone but still none of the Governments in the past bothered about it and allowed the National Highway traffic to ply over it at grave risk to the general public. He hoped, one day analysts will try to find out why people here had to wait for nearly 70 years for PM Modi to arrive and give them justice.
Earlier, Dr Jitendra Singh walked through the main markets of town and acknowledged the gratitude of the people who have heaved a sigh of relief on the construction of the bridge.
Speaking at the rally, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the important Maitra bridge and the flyover to bypass in the town are under construction day and night in double shifts. After their completion, and also the completion of the remaining stretch of National Highway beyond Ramban, the road travel journey time from Jammu to Srinagar will be reduced to just about four hours.
Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that once there was a time when there was just one Government High School in Ramban. Today, he said, there are more than a dozen degree colleges and higher secondary schools in the district and recalled that this happened only in the last eight years. Not only this, he said, degree colleges have been set up in remote areas like Kastigarh and Ukhral.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, “We have followed the policy of reaching out to the people who need us and bringing up the projects as per their requirements, irrespective of religion, cast, creed or party preference and hoped that this political culture above vote consideration would also be followed by others for the benefit of the youth whose energy is going to contribute for nation building for the next 25 years of Amrit Kal”.
Emphasizing on giving a boost to StartUp movement, Dr Jitendra Singh said, soon there will be a comprehensive plan about agriculture related entrepreneurship for which this place has huge resources and which will be a lucrative source of livelihood for the youth.
The Union Minister said, never before the resources of river Chenab have been fully exploited and now galaxy of multiple power projects are coming up in the erstwhile Doda district. This region is going to be the power hub of North India and will also provide electricity to other States. He also recalled other monumental work done during the last eight years of construction of a Relay Radio Station at Natha Top which caters to the whole of the district.
Addressing the rally, BJYM UT president, Arun Prabhat Singh said Modi Government gave justice to VDCs for which they were waiting for decades. He also gave credit to Dr Jitendra Singh for construction of various power projects like Pakal Dool, Rattle etc in his Parliamentary constituency. This will help both in revenue and job generation, he added.
He said the Union Minister also deserves all credit for Aroma revolution in J&K and 1700 to 2000 youth are connected with this mission.
Ex MLA Neelam Langeh, BJYM leaders Gurdeep Chib, Ramesh Sharma, ex district president BJP, Reenuka Katoch, DDC Member, Sunita Sumbaria, chairperson Municipality Ramban, Akhil Parashar, Vijay Paroch, Sanjay Sharma, Inderjit Shan and others addressed the rally.