Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar opens biotech expo in Kathua, hails abrogation of Article 370

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, January 4

Terming the now abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution as ‘nasoor’ (sore point), Vice-President (V-P) Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said he had never thought that the provision will ever go away.

“Article 370, which was a temporary provision had become a sore point for us. What a good day today that that provision is not there in the law of the country,” said Dhankhar.

Addressing the inauguration of the Biotech Startup Expo on “Emerging Startup Trends in North India” in Kathua district, Dhankhar said Article 370 and 35-A were “obstacles to democratic governance.”

The V-P noted that sections of society in Jammu and Kashmir who had earlier been denied their rights and benefits under government schemes, now have a greater voice in governance and are witness to a transformed scenario. “With Article 370 no longer being part of the Constitution, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s dream has been translated into reality,” he said.

The V-P drew attention to the opportunities that have opened up for the women of J&K, with the availability of property rights following abrogation of Article 370, in addition to the rights conferred by the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’.

“Abrogation of Article 370 and the enabling initiatives taken by the government in J&K have resulted in development being completely delinked from partisan interests,” said the Vice-President. Recognising that every individual has a right to participate in politics, the Vice-President cautioned that politics must not be allowed to become a deterrent to progress.

The Centre had made an announcement on August 5, 2019 regarding abrogation of Article 370 after which the opposition parties in J&K had been contesting the decision. However last month, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the decision of the Centre to repeal the special status of J&K.

Expressing his appreciation for the nation’s progress in the domain of biotechnology, the Vice-President made special mention of India’s position as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, having a greater number of unicorns than China. Highlighting the extent of India’s internet penetration and its great number of digital transactions, he also emphasised upon the importance of nurturing a robust research ecosystem for the progress of the country.

In his address, the Vice-President also congratulated the students and awardees of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, where he was scheduled to attend the convocation. However, owing to the bad weather, he could not attend the event. The flight had to be rerouted through Pathankot prior to the event in Kathua, owing to the deteriorating weather situation.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who was also present during the event, said, “It is imperative that we focus on the sustainability and scale up of the innovators and enterprises and continue to provide an enabling ecosystem to ensure that we can create a national and global impact.”

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