Shah hits out at some political leaders for misleading youth, giving provocative statements

Union Home Minister Amit Shah launching virtually the DGGI of J&K from New Delhi on Saturday. Union MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh and LG Manoj Sinha were present in Jammu.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah launching virtually the DGGI of J&K from New Delhi on Saturday. Union MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh and LG Manoj Sinha were present in Jammu.

HM says elections soon after delimitation, then Statehood
J&K to have one test for all Central services, 20 Centres: Dr Jitendra
Every district should have vision  document for two years: LG
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 22: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held immediately after the completion of delimitation process while Statehood will be restored as soon as the situation becomes normal even as he charged some regional parties, without naming them, saying they were misleading the people, especially youth, with their provocative statements at a time when the Union Territory is witnessing percolation of democracy, which is the solution to all problems, at grassroots level.
He made these remarks while virtually releasing India’s first ‘District Good Governance Index’ (DGGI) for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from New Delhi. Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha joined the function from Jammu along with top bureaucrats from Centre and J&K.
“Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the completion of the ongoing delimitation process and Statehood will be restored once the situation in the Union Territory becomes normal, ” Shah said.
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“Some people have said many things, but I want to tell you that I had given assurance in Parliament that the Statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored. Once the situation in Jammu and Kashmir becomes normal, the Statehood will be given,” he said.
Taking a dig at the leaders of National Conference, People’s Democratic Party and some other regional parties, without naming them, the Home Minister said only 87 MLAs, six MPs and three families (a reference towards Abdullahs and Muftis) used to share power in Jammu and Kashmir while today more than 30,000 people’s representatives (the members of three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions) are serving the people from village level to the Union Territory.
“Because of the Panchayati Raj System, some political parties are hurt as this has taken power away from clutches of their families. These parties are now claiming that after abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the law and order situation has deteriorated. But I want to tell them that from April 2017 to 2019 and from 2019 to 2021, there has been 40 percent decline in terror incidents and 57 percent decrease in deaths,” Shah said.
He said he want to ask these three families that they ruled Jammu and Kashmir for so many years but why these developments didn’t take place? “If you couldn’t do this, then what is the fun of misleading the people of Jammu and Kashmir”?, he further asked.
Shah said there are leaders who claimed no land will be left in Kashmir.
“Just ask them whether land has been taken from locals. There were leader who expressed their extreme views saying there will be no improvement in law and order in J&K till Article 370 was restored and that situation has deteriorated after August 5, 2019 decision. Contrary to this, J&K has recorded decline in violence and killings after August 5,” he asserted.
Maintaining that democracy and development will address all issues of the youth, Shah said they (the youth) shouldn’t listen to the leaders who intend to lead them astray as peace is important for democracy and development.
“But to sustain democracy, peace is necessary in Jammu and Kashmir. I want to appeal to the youths of Jammu and Kashmir not to get instigated by the statements of vested interests. I want to tell the youths to have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have faith in the Jammu and Kashmir administration. No one can stop Jammu and Kashmir from becoming most developed region of the country,” he said.
Shah said some people are spreading lies for their narrow political interests.
He said Jammu and Kashmir is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and multipronged efforts are being made for the all-round development of the Union Territory.
“Those who were saying that violence will increase, they should be asked whether violence has gone up or reduced. They had said no investment will come, but the fact is that already Rs 12,000 crore investment has come. Tourists arrivals have also gone up and Jammu and Kashmir is marching towards development,” he said.
Shah said Jammu and Kashmir has tremendous potential for tourism. But the way some leaders are making statements shows that they don’t want the tourism sector to grow.
“I want to tell them there is no impact of your statements. In this winter, there have been record tourist arrivals in Jammu and Kashmir. This number will keep growing in the coming days,” he said.
The Home Minister said everyone knows that tourism has a direct connection with employment, but by making such statements, a conspiracy has been hatched so that fewer tourists come and the youth get fewer employment opportunities.
He said Jammu and Kashmir is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and multipronged efforts are being made for the all-round development of the Union Territory.
Shah said many changes have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir under the initiative of the local administration and the guidance of the Prime Minister.
“I want to tell everyone, especially youths, youths of the valley, to give attention towards development and be part of the development process,” he said.
He said peace has a connection with the administration. When people get good administration, people get involved with the administration, he added.
Congratulating the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the release of the first “District Good Governance Index”, Shah said the development is not only important for the Union Territory but for the entire country.
“A start has been made from Jammu and Kashmir and it will slowly reach every part of the country. This will pave the way for a healthy administration in every district,” he said.
He said good governance has no meaning if the impact of administration is missing at the district level.
“People are getting direct benefits. Therefore, naturally, the middlemen are upset. Modi is clear that people of Jammu and Kashmir should get clean administration without any intervention of the middlemen,” he said.
“I want to tell those people who had to go to Pakistan or other foreign countries to study medicine that from independence to 2014, Jammu and Kashmir had just four Medical Colleges with 500 seats. Now, nine medical colleges have been built, 15 Nursing Colleges set up and 1,100 MBBS seats and 600 paramedical seats are available,” he said.
He added the administration is working to provide five lakh jobs to the local youths in the coming years.
Shah said investment of just Rs 12,000 crore was made in Jammu and Kashmir in 70 years. But in just one year, Rs 12,000 crore investment has come. All together Rs 50,000 crore investment will come.
He said that the number of completed works in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up from 9,000 to 21,000 which shows welfare of the people of the UT is priority of the Prime Minister.
In his address, Union Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh announced Common Eligibility Test for all Central Government recruitments in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Every district of Jammu and Kashmir will have examination centre for the recruitment process. As there are 20 districts in the UT, 20 centres will be set up so that the youth don’t have to go outside,” Dr Jitendra Singh said.
He added that the test will be valid for a period of three years.
Referring to delay in induction of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) officers into IAS, Dr Jitendra Singh said he exchanged many letters with the J&K Government and now finally the time has come when JKAS officers will be regularly inducted into IAS.
He referred to implementation of many Central Laws which helped the people of Jammu and Kashmir especially the youth post August 5, 2019 abrogation of special status of the erstwhile State.
The Union Minister pointed out that Jammu and Kashmir has become the first UT/State to launch DGGI.
Speaking, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said good governance is main priority of Jammu and Kashmir administration and efforts in this regard will be further stepped-up.
Disclosing top five districts in the DGGI as Jammu, Doda, Samba, Pulwama and Srinagar (as exclusively reported by the Excelsior today), Sinha said other districts have also made good efforts and topped in different sectors.
“Like Shopian district is good in environment and there is need for Jammu district to take cue from them,” he said.
Sinha said every district should have a vision document for two years and take the help of social and political activists, intellectuals, economists and businessmen to implement it.
“This can give good results,” he said.
The Lieutenant Governor said good governance, transparency, accountability and rule of law are required for fulfilling aspirations of the people.
“All obstacles in good governnance were removed after August 2019 divisions,” Sinha said.
“Jammu and Kashmir is among five top States/UTs in farmers income. J&K had become model for the country in COVID management and vaccination,” he asserted.
Sinha said the administration must ensure that files are not unnecessarily delayed and it should work for better life of the people as motto.

J&K performs strongly in Comm, Industry, Agriculture
The Good Governance Index 2021 has indicated that Jammu and Kashmir has performed strongly in Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and allied sectors during the last three years.
Significant improvements were reported in ease of doing business, tax collection, skill trainings imparted, connectivity to rural habitations, economic empowerment of women, health insurance coverage and housing for all.
These were reflected at the first “District Good Governance Index”, today.
The Good Governance Index 2021 has indicated that Jammu and Kashmir registered an increase of 3.7 per cent in Good Governance indicators over the 2019 to 2021 period.
Strong performances were witnessed in Commerce and Industry, Agriculture and allied sectors, public infrastructure and utilities, judiciary and public safety sectors, it said.
There were improvements in conviction rates, disposal of court cases and proportion of women police personnel while citizen-centric governance sector witnessed a strong performance.
In this backdrop of strong governance performance at the national level, the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s initiative of benchmarking governance at district level assumes considerable significance.
The District Good Governance Index has helped identify the impact of various governance interventions at the district level and provides a futuristic roadmap for improving district level governance with targeted interventions.
Stakeholders consultations necessitated 10 rounds of meetings at the central government level, including meetings with the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, district Collectors, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, consultations with academia and sector specialists from other States.
Some of the key highlights of the results of the index are: In the agriculture and allied sector, universal coverage has been achieved in Kisan Credit Card scheme, Soil Health Card scheme and animal vaccination.
Most districts of Jammu and Kashmir witnessed growth in the production of food grain, horticulture, milk and meat, poultry, and agriculture credit.
The commerce and industry sector has seen improvement in GST registration, MSME units registered online and giving credit to handicrafts and credit for self-employment.
There is a 109 per cent increase in credit to handicrafts in the 2019-2021 period.
In the human resources development sector, the percentage of schools with drinking water, separate toilets and electricity facilities have shown an increase as also the percentage of schools with access to computers and number of children served mid-day meals. In 10 districts, 100 per cent skill training has been imparted to registered students.
In the public health sector, full immunisation represents a significant success story, percentage of PHC and sub-centres converted to health and wellness centres, proportion of Anganwadis with own buildings have shown improvements.
In the public infrastructure and utilities sector, housing for all scheme indicates more than 50 per cent of sanctioned houses being grounded in 12 districts, Ganderbal and Srinagar achieving 100 per cent access to safe drinking water, 18 districts achieving 100 per cent access to sanitation facilities, improvements in households electrified and construction of all-weather roads.
In the social welfare and development sector, 80 per cent Aadhar seeding of ration cards represents a major milestone.
In the financial inclusion sector, financial inclusion under the Jan Dhan Yojana has achieved universal coverage, financial support under self-employment schemes has also registered double digit growth.

Shah all praise for Sinha
Union Home Minister Amit Shah was all praise for Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in his virtual address today from New Delhi after the release of first-ever DGGI of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The way Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is governing Jammu and Kashmir under guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a big change has been seen in the Union Territory, in line with the vision of a New India,” Shah said.
He said Manoj Sinha-led administration is working to overcome 70-year-long deficit in Jammu and Kashmir by ensuring development and progress in all spheres.
He said J&K has made a new beginning by releasing the DGGI which will reach every State leading to healthy competition of good governance in every district of the country.
Again praising Manoj Sinha, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a clear objective that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should have corruption-free governance and that they don’t have to give anything to anyone for scholarships and benefits from their schemes.