Govt wants to establish eco -friendly Bamboo industry: LG]
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Jan 11: Terming the holding of BDC election a great decision of the BJP led Union Government to take democracy to grass root level in the erstwhile State after a period of 72 long years, Union Minister of State in PMO with independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi brought real autonomy to democratic institutions in the erstwhile J&K State.
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Without naming People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC) the two regional parties of the erstwhile State, Dr Jitendra Singh took a dig on those who were talking about self rule and autonomy. “Self rule for whom when you don’t empower grass root level democratic institutions? It was self rule for self only and not for people of whom they were talking”, he added.
Lambasting the protagonists of autonomy, he asked “for whom they were demanding autonomy? It was for self and families and not for people”. “Now some voices have been raised for domicile which has already been taken care of by Modi Government”.
Addressing workshop cum exhibition on Bamboo, a wonder grass jointly organized by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, North Eastern Council, Government of India and Government of J&K here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said the Government will soon hold District Development Board elections in the UT to strengthen all basic institutions of democracy.
He said the situation is changing fast in Valley after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 A on August 5 last year. The youth of Valley have developed a faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi as 2100 candidates appeared in JEE examination across Kashmir while 800 candidates appeared in NEET, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh was chief guest on the occasion while Lt. Governor G C Murmu was the guest of honour.
The Minister asked where those people have gone who were saying volcano will erupt if Article 370 was touched? He said “we have to liberate our mindset now and work for taking UT on the progressive and developmental path under the leadership of Narendra Modi”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that all the 800 Central laws will be implemented in J&K and notifications are being issued in this regard. He added that there are no two thoughts in this regard. The advertisement for jobs will be issued and the J&K will have now Child Marriage Act and Dowry Act which were not here earlier, he asserted.
He said Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has said that “we will have organised outreach programmes in J&K. Under these programmes it is the fourth conference held in J&K after the formation of UT on October 31 last year and on January 28 Pension Adalat will be held here”.
He said the Prime Minister tried to institutionalize this outreach programmes and “we tend to go deeper at district and Assembly constituency level.” The PM is keen for the development of J&K and Ladakh and he said apply same focus on the two UTs which has been applied on North Eastern States. The Modi Government wants to have replica of North Eastern States type here also”, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said for the development and progress of J&K and Ladakh some bottlenecks were removed and in this regard removal of Toll Plaza at Lakhanpur was a great achievement. “We redeem ourselves to work for those who have been left out in last 72 years”, he added.
He said “we have to compete other countries and work with dedication in this regard. Many steps were taken for the development of the J&K and Ladakh”, he added.
The Bhatinda Gas line has been cleared now which was pending for a long time and e-governance introduced here, he said, adding that some projects which were stuck have been cleared. In this regard, he made a reference to much talked about Shahpur Kandi Project which no one had taken seriously under previous governments. The project was cleared with the intervention of PM. Dr Jitendra Singh said besides Pakal Dool Power Project was also cleared.
He said situation was much more worst in NE when he was made incharge of DONER Ministry. The militancy was on peak and there were road blockades for months together and development had come to a grinding halt there. The vehicles were fired upon from hillocks, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said every one tried to give advice to him to bring NE closer to India “but I gave a thought to it and said why not India will go closer to NE to bridge the gap both physical as well as psychological. We took rotational Secretariat to NE and set up Ministries in each of the State there. We named it DONER at door steps”.
The Minister said that this outreach has done away with deprivation and criminal acts decreased there. The Government established first ever Regional North Eastern Development Council, Brahmputra Study Centre for job placement there and also established AJP Abdul Kalam Chair which is now a Study Centre.
He said there is lot of potential in North East as we have in J&K. NE is today a venture for youth all over India. While stressing on promotion of Bamboo industry, art crafts and handicrafts, he said India is richest in Bamboo after China. Country has huge Bamboo resources but still “we are importing Agarbati from China.”
He said to promote Bamboo industry and trade, the Modi Government amended 100 year old Bamboo Act and home grown Bamboo can now be utilized for self employment purposes and “we can make both Agarbati and matchsticks ourselves.” Dr Jitendra Singh said there are many advantages of Bamboo but unless you get involved you can’t benefit by it. The Bamboo can revolutionize industry and it is eco friendly, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said as “we promoted Bamboo trade and industry in NE where we had free hand, same can now happen here as after August 5 last year we have free hand here too now. In J&K five districts of Jammu are Bamboo reserve, he said and expressed the hope that this two day workshop cum seminar will herald NE journey in J&K.
Lt Governor, G C Murmu termed the holding of the workshop cum conference a great pleasure for him and expressed the hope that people will be benefitted by it. He said Bamboo has a lot of potential and there are 1000 varieties of Bamboo. It can be used for food, furniture etc.
The LG said in Bengal, Bihar and other States Bamboo is used for daily life. “People are using Bamboo suits there. He said there are 1600 hectares of forest available here and the Government is trying to find out eco use of it. Besides environment protection, the Bamboo can be used in day to day life,” he added.
Murmu said in J&K Government wants to promote the industry which is environment friendly and non polluting and the Bamboo can be a way for it. Moreover, he added, the Bamboo can be adopted as per the climate. China has many verities of bamboo and they use it in textiles also.
The welcome address was read by Principal Secretary, Forests & Ecology, Sarita Chauhan. The seminar was attended by Ranjit Singh, Joint Secretary DONER , K Mosis Chilai, Secretary, North East and Sidarh Kumar Principal Chief Conservator Social Forestry, J&K.
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