KO photo by Abid Bhat
Youth Carrying Laptops, Not Stones Anymore; 70% Drop In Terror Incidents
Jammu- The Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled dream of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee by abrogating Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and integrating the erstwhile state with the rest of the country.
In his address, Shah also listed achievements of the Modi government after scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and splitting the state into two Union Territories in August 2019.
He said that by removing Article 370, PM Modi has given the rights of reservation to hill communities, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, women and senior citizens.
“This justice could have been ensured by Modi only,” he said.
The Home Minister also slammed successive governments of Jammu and Kashmir for failing to bring down the graph of militancy.
He also said that despite opposition, PM Modi has taken progressive initiatives like removal of Article 370, construction of Ram Mandir and removal of Triple Talaq.
Mookerjee’s Dream Fulfilled
In his address, Shah said that due to the sacrifice, courage and determination of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, J&K is united with India and Article 370 has been abrogated.
Mookerjee, he said, not only resigned from the post of Minister of Industry and Supply in 1953 in his protest against the proposal to include Article 370, but also maintained that the country can’t have ‘Do Vidhan, Do Nishan, Do Pradhan’.
Shah said that fulfilling the dream of Mookerjee, PM Modi abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019
“The whole country including Jammu and Kashmir will remain indebted to the contribution of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, for making Jammu and Kashmir the crown of Mother India,” he said.
J&K On Path Of Development
Asserting that J&K is marching ahead on the path of development under the leadership of PM Modi, Shah said that the program of distribution of Golden Health Cards has been completed today. He said about 97 lakh people are getting the benefit of this Golden Health Card.
The Home Minister said that in the entire country only poor people get the benefits under Pradhan MantriAyushman Bharat Yojana, while in Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi has decided to provide all health facilities up to Rs.5 lakh free of cost to all the citizens.
“The Jammu and Kashmir government is making payments of Rs 2 crore everyday under this scheme,” he said.
G-20 Carried Message Of Good Tourism
Expressing satisfaction over the recently concluded G-20 meeting in Srinagar, the Home Minister said that during the conference, the leaders of many countries took the message of good tourism of Kashmir.
“The message of the improved situation in Kashmir reached the whole world,” he added.
He said that when it was decided to hold a meeting of the G20 in Srinagar, many people offered various comments and some, including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, made various predictions.
“But all these predictions were proved wrong as the G20 meeting in Srinagar was held successfully,” he said and appreciated the Jammu and Kashmir administration headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for it.
He also said the successful hosting of the G20 meeting would give a big boost to the tourism industry in Kashmir.
Panchayati Raj System Re-Implemented
Lauding the leadership of PM Modi, the Home Minister said that the government has re-implemented the Panchayati Raj system in J&K. Presently, Shah said, there are 32,000 newly elected Panch, Sarpanch and members of Tehsil Panchayat and District Panchayat, who are taking Jammu and Kashmir ahead on the path of development.
Big Push To Health Sector
Taking a dig at successive governments of Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister said that compared to just 4 medical colleges built in 70 years, the Modi government established 9 new medical colleges and 15 nursing colleges in the last 9 years.
“Earlier there were only 500 medical seats, now 600 MBBS seats have been added to it. The number of degree colleges and engineering colleges has also been increased from 96 to 147 and IIT and IIM provided to Jammu,” he added.
Hits Out At NC, PDP, Cong
Mincing no words to attack his political opponents, Shah said that J&K was ruled by three families for many years, while 42,000 people were killed because of terrorism. He blamed Article 370 for hampering development of the erstwhile state.
“But still these people say that we should keep Article 370,” he said.
The home minister claimed that during earlier regimes, funds meant for the poor and farmers used to go into the pockets of a few.
“Many in Jammu and Kashmir have big houses in foreign lands and many used to go for 45-60 days’ vacations in foreign countries. From where this money came? This was money meant for the poor,” he said.
Now development funds are reaching actual beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT), he said.
In the last four years, he said, the government built about 1.86 lakh houses for people in Jammu and Kashmir and Rs 23,000 crore was given to beneficiaries of various schemes through DBT.
The home minister also appealed to people to come forward and join hands in the march for development and fulfil PM Modi’s dream of a peaceful and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.
‘70% Drop In Terror Incidents’
The Home Minister said that under the leadership of the PM, the Government of India has cracked down heavily on terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that during the previous government, there were 7,327 terrorist incidents in 10 years in which 2,056 civilians were killed.
“While in the last 9 years, with a decrease of about 70%, 2,350 terrorist incidents happened in which 377 civilians were killed,” Shah said.
“After the abrogation of Article 370, only 32 calls for strike and bandh were reported, while the incidents of stone pelting have also come down by 90% in the last 47 months,” he added.
‘Youth Carrying Laptops, Not Stones’
The Home Minister said that a new Jammu and Kashmir is being built under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier, he said, the youth of the Valley used to have stones in their hands, but now they have laptops.
“These educated youths are going to shape the future of Jammu and Kashmir and the country. This change has become possible only due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the last 9 years,” he added.
‘UPA Govt Was Involved In Rs 12L Crore Scam’
Shah said on Friday that the Modi government has laid a strong foundation for eradication of corruption from the country, while the previous UPA government was involved in “scams” worth Rs 12 lakh crore.
“Modi replaced the UPA government which was involved in scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore. The prime minister has laid the strong foundation for a corruption-free India,” Shah said addressing a public rally.
‘New Policies Developed For J&K’
Maintaining that during the last 9 years, PM Modi has worked towards making India 5th largest economy in the world, Shah said that the government of India has formulated various policies for the development of J&K, including Industrial Policy, Industrial Land Allotment Policy, Private Industrial Estate Development Policy, Wool Processing, Handicraft and Handloom Policy, New Film Policy in 2021, Home Stay and House Boat Policy for Tourism.
“Due to these policies, the investment in Jammu and Kashmir is going up and the number of tourists is also increasing continuously,” he said.
In the year 2022, Shah said, a record 1.88 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that from 1947 to 2014, there was a huge shortage of jobs in the region but under the leadership of PM, the centre has provided 28,000 government jobs to the youth, established 51,000 units of self-employment, provided livelihood to 70,000 youth under the Mission Youth and allocated an industrial package of 28,400 crore, with complete transparency .
Modi Honoured In US Like No One Before
Speaking on the ongoing visit of PM Modi to the United States, the Home Minister said that the Biden government has bestowed the honour of the State Guest to the PM of India.
“The honour given to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has not been given to anyone till date. Agreements are being signed between India and USA in the field of space, defence, semiconductor, and many big companies are eager to invest in India,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shah, who is also the Minister of Cooperation, laid the foundation stone of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Samba and inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various development schemes in Jammu.
Several dignitaries including Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh were present on the occasion of inauguration and foundation stone laying of CFSL, Samba and various development schemes.
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