Avtar Bhat
UDHAMPUR, Jan 3: To give a complete face lift to Udhampur, Union Minister of State in PMO with independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh and Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh today announced some landmark projects over Rs 50 crore for the district.
These projects were announced by them while addressing Vikas Sushasan rally here, along with Minister of Forestry and Social Welfare, Bali Bhagat and MoS PWD and Revenue, Sunil Sharma.
While addressing the rally, Dr Jitendra Singh announced projects over Rs 27 crore for the district while the projects of equal amount were declared by Dr Nirmal Singh also.
Announcing the series of projects, Dr Jitendra Singh declared the setting up of an Akashwani Radio Station over one acre of land in the heart of the town for over Rs five crore which has been a demand of the people for over last 60 years.
Besides, he announced a State of Art Auditorium at the cost of Rs 10 crore and eight overhead bridges at the cost of Rs 10 crore in the town to reduce the congestion, Panchayat Ghar for Rs one crore, a skill development Institute at Battal Ballia Panchayat in the immediate vicinity of the town at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, community hall for Rs 20 lakh, foot bridges in rural Udhampur for Rs 20 lakh, community shed at Majalta for Rs 10 lakh. These projects are in addition to Devika conservation project on which the cost is to be calculated.
Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that the much awaited proposal for cleaning of river Devika has been accepted by the Union Ministry of Environment and the initial survey has been concluded with collection of soil and water samples. Another team of the Environment Ministry will soon visit and prepare an estimate for fund allocation from Union Finance Ministry, he said.
Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (DDUJJY), Dr Jitendra said, 100% target for rural electrification of entire Udhampur District will be achieved by March 2017. In addition, he said, from his MPLAD fund, he had earlier allocated Rs. 20 lakh for building a community hall in the city and also an additional equal amount for building of foot bridges in the rural areas for convenience of villagers and school going children.
Responding to a demand by MLA Chenani, Dina Nath Bhagat, Dr Jitendra Singh announced the setting up of a Panchayat Ghar at Chenani at the cost of Rs. 1 crore which will include community hall, sports stadium, children complex and other facilities. Meanwhile, the Kendriya Vidyalay a at Chenani has been upgraded from March last year and the first batch of Class XI will appear for exam in March this year. As far as the roads in Chenani Assembly segment are concerned, Udhampur-Goldie and Chenani-Palangat roads will be constructed from CRF, he added.
For Ramnagar, Dr Jitendra Singh announced setting up of a Degree College at Majalta for which the State Government had agreed to send a proposal which would be further pursued at the Union HRD Ministry. A community shed in Ramnagar town has already been sanctioned from the MPLAD fund, he informed.
Addressing the rally, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh announced Rs 25 crore Solid Waste Treatment Plant for Mand Udhampur. He also announced Rs 1.50 crore for Udhampur Municipal Council for purchasing JCB, tippers etc to equip it with basic infrastructure and Rs 50 lakh for construction of lanes and drains for the town. Out of Rs 80,000 crore announced under PM package, Dr Nirmal Singh said sufficient amount has been earmarked for power and road sector in the State and every region will get its due share.
Dr Nirmal Singh announced that Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jyoti Yojana will be launched from this year to cover all uncovered areas in power sector. The PDD has placed order for procurement of equipments.
He also said that Municipal elections which will be held in March this year will likely be contested on party symbols while the Panchayat elections are likely to be held in May. Dr Singh asked the party workers to gear up for these elections from today and highlight the developmental projects launched by the Party in the State.
Dr Singh also announced that there will be no compromise on corruption and the deadwood will not be tolerated in the administration. He said already some corrupt officials have been shown the door and other non performing officers have also to face the same action.
He said the Government is on the job to construct the Delhi, Amritsar and Katra corridor along Dhar road as the present National Highway is in a vulnerable condition. In this regard a meeting will be held soon between Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, Surface Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari, Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh and him to finalize the project.
Addressing the rally, Forest and Social Welfare Minister Bali Bhagat while highlighting the achievements of the coalition Government said that 20,000 kanals of forest land were retrieved by his Ministry which was under the illegal occupation of land mafia in the State. He said no leniency will be shown to mafia groups who have captured the forest land in the State how influential they may be.
He also highlighted the Ladli Beti and Aasra schemes launched by the Government and asked the people to take full advantage of these schemes.
Minister of PWD Sunil Sharma in his address announced some road projects for the Udhampur and highlighted various achievements of the Government at Delhi and in the State. He said some of these projects included AIIMS, IIT, IIM, IHM, bridges on rivers like Ravi, Bio Technological Park, KVs etc.
He said both Central and State Governments are working hard for equitable development of all three regions of the State.
BJP MLAs R S Pathania and Dina Nath Bhagat as well as Party secretary Pawan Khajuria also addressed the rally.
Later, talking to reporters at the sidelines of rally Dr Nirmal Singh said Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and its army were responsible for the attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot in which seven security personnel were killed.
“The entire atmosphere is being vitiated by the ISI, the (Pakistani) army and the separatist groups and their henchmen who have done this (attacked the Air Force base),” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a daring step by visiting Pakistan last month, however, the forces who don’t want peace vitiated the atmosphere, he said.
“Whatever the issue is, it has to be resolved through dialogue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a big daring step, a major diplomatic step…While on his way back from Afghanistan, (he) went to Lahore and attended the marriage ceremony at the house of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,” he said.
“That (the visit) sent a message, but the entire atmosphere is being vitiated by the ISI, the army and the separatist groups and their henchmen who have done this,” he said.
The Central Government was reviewing the situation and will take further steps keeping in mind the interests of the people of the country, he said.
Appreciating the role played by the security forces, Singh said that they played a commendable role in containing the attack.
“Yesterday’s incident…I must say that our security forces, the Army, the Punjab Police have done a wonderful job, the three men who laid down their lives for the nation as the terrorists neutralized by the security forces were fully equipped,” he said.
He further said that the incident sends a message to Pakistan and the agencies there that the Indian security agencies won’t let their nefarious designs succeed in India.
“So this sends a message to Pakistan and the agencies in Pakistan that are doing this, that such type of actions won’t succeed here.
“This is clear message to them that as far as our security is concerned, there is no compromise on it. And we also agree that all the issues can be resolved only through dialogue,” he said.
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