Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Oct 20: Reitera-ting that separatists’ movement in Kashmir valley is not any freedom struggle but a “farce, a mercenary movement and a manufactured struggle” whose roots lie somewhere else, Union Minister of State in PMO with Independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that vested interests involved in this movement are exploiting the youth of Kashmir by handing over guns in their hands.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organised by Social Welfare Board here,, Dr Jitendra Singh said that mercenaries are targeting innocent people and creating mayhem but this will not last long as the youth of Kashmir have come to realize now that those who handed over guns in their hands have sent their own children to safe heavens.
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He said the separatist leaders have been exposed now and recently a terrorist commander was nabbed by “Daughters of Kashmir” as one of the daughter was exploited by these foreign militants.
“The youth of Kashmir have awakened now and they will no loner be carried away by the false propaganda of militant leaders as they want to become the part of the development process of Narendra Modi Government like the youth of other parts of country as they don’t want to miss the bus but become part of its journey”, he said.
In response to a question regarding increase in infiltration bids from across the border and cross border firing by Pakistan, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Pakistan has been doing this for quite some time but credit goes to Indian security forces who out of 50 to 60 attempts of infiltration have foiled 40 to 45 of them. He also lauded the contribution of J&K Police especially its Special Operation Group (SoG) saying that JKP has also come of age now and they are doing a commendable job in anti-terrorist operations shoulder to shoulder with security forces.
He said even while eliminating terrorists in encounters, the security forces work with utmost restraint ensuing minimal collateral damage to civilian population. “This speaks about the efficiency of security forces”, the Union Minister added.
On braid chopping incidents and allegations made by the separatists in the Valley, Dr Jitendra Singh said that there is no evident substantial proof of any body’s involvement in this. “We should have evidence instead of saying that some body is doing this as it is an evidence based era”, he added.
In response to a question regarding the fatwa given by Majlis in Kishtwar that boys and girls can’t study together in schools, Dr Jitendra Singh said in 2017 India, 2017 J&K and 2017 Kishtwar the boys and girls are grown up and they are mature enough to decide that what is good for them and what not.
In response to another question that Congress was accusing BJP for creating disturbances in the country on the name of RSS killing, Dr Jitendra Singh said that movement launched by BJP is not for BJP or RSS but it is to restore the concept of peaceful non violent dissent in a democracy.
He said “whatever is our ideology and faith a healthy democracy does not permit use of violence against those who do not agree with our ideology. The BJP-RSS movement is to restore the values of a healthy democracy, he added.
He said this movement is also to restore those values which are inheritant to Gandhian philosophy.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Election Co-Incharge for Gujarat, in response to a question regarding the allegations levelled by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and other Congress leaders that Modi Government was influencing Election Commission (EC) to delay the Gujarat elections said that, unlike the Congress, the BJP Government does not interfere in the working of Election Commission.
He said, since the day the Modi Government came to power all the Constitutional bodies, including the Election Commission, have enjoyed absolute freedom and autonomy to function without any external interference from the Government.
The Union Minister took a dig at the Congress leaders and said that what Chidambram and other Congress leaders are talking from their own experience of nearly 50 years when the Congress Party established a new norm of using Constitutional bodies, including E C and CBI, to serve its political interests. He said, the credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having restored back the sanctity, propriety, independence and Constitutional status of EC and other such bodies.
Earlier, speaking at a function to mark the release of a video film “Muntazar” highlighting the State of elder citizens in the country , Dr Jitendra Singh took a dig at those bureaucrats who turned nationalists overnight after their retirement and made a noise that Jammu is being discriminated against while during their over three decade long Government job they never thought of it.
Referring to the state of elders, he said instead of being pessimistic about the issue, the need of the hour is for a healthy synergism between the youth and the elders for a much harmonious and faster assent of India in the world arena. He said, the reality of India 2017 is that on the one hand, “we have 70% of population which is below the age of 40 years, while on the other hand, the 40% of population is in the higher age group also, which if counted in exact numbers, is many times more than what it was 50 years ago.”
Dr Jitendra Singh said, 70% youth population of India is aspirational and therefore for any future programme or planning to be successful, it has to identify with the aspirations of the youth and also be capable of enjoying the trust and faith of the youth. On the other hand, he said, most of the superannuating elder citizens are now retiring in the prime of their physical fitness when they can offer the benefit of their energy, experience and expertise in the field of their work.
He referred to a number of measures taken by the Modi Government to ensure that the superannuating citizens continue to contribute constructively even after retirement. In this regard, he mentioned various recently launched programmes for the pensioners including “Sankalp”, “Bhavishya” and “Anubhav”, which are all aimed to streamline the elder citizens’ engagement in the task of nation building even after retirement.
Referring to some of the path-breaking initiatives taken by the Modi Government for elder citizens, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last three years, the minimum pension has been increased to Rs.1000/-, the life certificate for a pensioner now has the option of being submitted through biometrics without causing inconvenience and above all, it is during the Modi Government that a pension scheme was introduced for elder citizens after the age of 65 years even if they had never been in a government service.
“The health scenario is also shifted from communicable to non-communicable diseases”, observed Dr Jitendra Singh, and said, the health insurance policy is also intended to take care of the long-term lifestyle diseases with economic implications.
Lauding the new initiatives taken by the J&K State Social Welfare Board under the Chairmanship of Prof. Nirmal Kamal, Dr Jitendra Singh assured of full support from him and Central Government for the Board’s activities. He also called upon the State Government to be more forthright and proactive in offering assistance to the various programmes envisaged by the Board.
Speaker Kavinder Gupta who was the guest of honour on the occasion lauded the good work being done by J&K State Social Welfare Board and the cooperation offered by Dr Jitendra Singh. He, however, said that lot of work needs to be done by Social Welfare Department. He said in foreign countries elders get pension while no work was done here in this regard during last 70 years. It was for the first time Modi Government took an initiative in this regard, he added
Earlier, Chairperson of the Board Prof. Nirmal Kamal gave a resume of diverse activities undertaken by the organization ever since he has taken charge.
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