‘Don’t have to contest polls here but will give rights to downtrodden’
*Reserved Category employees didn’t honour agreement
SanjeevPargal
JAMMU, Mar 26: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today announced that the Government is making a law to give land and houses to the poor people of Jammu and Kashmir even as he charged the Reserved Category Jammu-based employees posted in the Valley with not sticking to the agreement with administration leading to delay in framing a policy for them.
Addressing a function organized in connection with 450th PrakashUtsav of Guru NabhaDassJiMaharaj here, Sinha said he was surprised to see that there was no law in Jammu and Kashmir to give land to the poor.
“What kind of laws had been made here by the previous rules?” he asked.
However, Sinha said, now Jammu and Kashmir is not out of the country and it is considered view of the Central Government that poor and downtrodden should get all facilities and the UT administration is committed to this.
“I don’t have to contest elections here nor I have to do politics but no laws were made to give land to the poor. And when they don’t have the land how they will construct houses whether it is Prime Minister’s AwasYojana (PMAY) or any other scheme. Now, we are going to make the law shortly,” he said.
This will ensure that the poor people who don’t have land will get land and houses also, he declared amid applause and cheers from the crowd.
The Lieutenant Governor said the administration here is committed to convert dreams of Prime Minister NarendraModi about Jammu and Kashmir into action on ground.
Sinha, however, regretted that Jammu based employees especially those of Reserved Category didn’t stick to the agreement with the administration.
“We have said we will make policy for them (Reserved Category employees). We are committed to this. But, regretfully, despite agreement during the talks, they have not honoured it. Agreement has to be respected by both sides,” he said.
Asserting that the administration has released salary for the employees, the Lieutenant Governor at the same time admitted that it is tough to serve in Kashmir and the Government will provide housing facilities to Reserved category employees also on the lines of Kashmiri Pandits.
“We will ensure that safe and secure accommodation is provided to the employees who belong to other parts of the country and are presently posted in J&K. We know working in Kashmir is a bit challenging,” Sinha said, adding the administration is working in this direction.
Sinha said he was surprised to see 270 trucks ferrying files of Darbar Move from Srinagar to Jammu when he came here.
“Today, we are the number one UT in the country to have e-services. We have 450 e-Services and 102 services under Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA). There are some gaps that are being filled by May this year,” he said.
The Lieutenant Governor said that there was a time when only seven kilometres of road was laid in Jammu and Kashmir but today the figure is 20 kilometres and 15 kilometres of road is being macadamised on a daily basis.
“A lot has changed in the past three years. Under the self-employment scheme and women self-help groups, hundreds of youth including young girls were trained to become good entrepreneurs. In every Panchayat, youth are being selected for entrepreneurship training and 20 youth are being trained under skill development program,” Sinha said.
An official handoutsaid : Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha attended the celebration of 450th PrakashUtsav of GoswamiShri Guru NabhaDassJiMaharaj at Teachers Bhawan, here today.
On the auspicious occasion, he extended his heartiest greetings to the people.
“Inspired by Guru NabhaDassJi’s thoughts, Jammu Kashmir is marching ahead with the spirit of welfare of every section of society & equal opportunities for people’s well-being,” he added.
“The eternally relevant ideals of Guru NabhaDassJi continue to inspire the nation to work for an egalitarian society and to nurture our composite culture. Let all of us together take a pledge that we shall dedicate ourselves to ensure peace, prosperity and social harmony,” said the Lt Governor.
He reiterated the commitment of the Government towards the welfare of the last person on the ladder of development and harnessing their potential in building strong, Atmanirbhar Jammu Kashmir.
Under the guidance of Prime Minister NarendraModi, inclusive growth is the focus of the administration. The historic decision of August 05, 2019 ended the decades-old discrimination against deprived sections of the society, said the Lt Governor.
“We are making sure that no individual or no section of society should be left behind in the development journey of Jammu Kashmir,” he observed.
“With the commitment to SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, we have taken various steps to ensure socio-economic development of poor and marginalized persons. The new Industrial revolution, welfare of farmers, laborers& workers, empowerment of youth, women & deprived sections, unprecedented progress in health, education, road, power, infrastructure, agriculture & allied sectors, universal health coverage, e-governance, administrative reforms entrepreneurship & start-up ecosystem, are reflecting the true picture of new and aspirational Jammu Kashmir,” the Lt Governor said.
He urged all the citizens to promote the spirit of brotherhood and to strengthen the fabric of emotional bonds to fulfill the resolve of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and contribute towards nation building.
Responding to the demands projected by former Minister, Dr DK Manyal, Sinha assured the community members of due consideration of all genuine demands.
“VanchitokoVariyata” is the commitment of the Central Government. Immediate steps will be taken for streamlining of scholarships to wards of SC community, he said.
The administration will also provide land for building a SmritiBhavan in memory of GoswamiShri Guru NabhaDassji, Sinha said.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor felicitated the members and youth of the community who have excelled in their fields.
Jugal Kishore Sharma, Member Parliament announced financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the Parishad for building the SmritiBhavan.
RL Bharti, Member, J&K Socially & Educationally Backward Classes Commission; Sansar Chand Krotra, President of Guru NabhaDassSamajKalyanParishad, besides a large number of members of the community were present.
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