Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 31: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today hosted a luncheon get-together for around 100 school students from Udhampur and Kathua districts of Jammu & Kashmir.
The get-together was accompanied by an informal interaction, during which the students engaged in a free-frank exchange of ideas and also offered their opinions on diverse subjects ranging from development projects and standard of educational institutions in their respective areas to political issues like 35A.
The students from Kathua were particularly excited and thankful for having been gifted with an Engineering College and a Medical College within the last four years, from the Central funds. They, however, regretted that the Medical College session did not start this year, in response to which, Dr Jitendra Singh observed that he was keen to get the academic session started this year itself, but due to delayed documentation from the State Government, the deadline could not be kept. He, however, expressed confidence that the session will certainly begin next year.
The students from Udhampur said that they had read in the newspapers, with a great delight, that the first – ever Radio Station will start functioning soon. They also wanted to know about the status of river Devika cleaning project which has been included in National River Rejuvenation Plan (NRRP). The Minister informed that the initial formalities and appraisals were complete and soon the tendering process for the Devika river Project would be undertaken.
Students from district Udhampur were particularly excited about Dr Jitendra Singh having got them sanctioned a Sports Stadium in Ramnagar from Central Fund, for which the construction was under progress. They also referred to the ongoing upgradation of the Udhampur Stadium.
Among the new demands put across by the students were expansion of the existing campus of Jammu University at Kathua and opening up of a similar University campus in Udhampur also.
The students gave a detailed account of the sight-seeing that they had done in the national capital region of Delhi during last two days. While they said, that they had visited Red Fort, Qutub Miniar and Raj Ghat, Dr Jitendra Singh also advised them to undertake a visit to the “Hall of Nuclear Power” started two years ago at the Pragati Maidan and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) which is a premier CSIR Laboratory of the country.
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