J&K now hotspot for tourists, not terrorists: L-G Manoj Sinha

Tribune News Service

New Delhi February 13

Stone pelting and calendars of strikes at the behest of Pakistan is history and Jammu and Kashmir is now known for its nightlife and cinema halls, said Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday.

Speaking at ‘J&K Sambhaav’ event, Sinha said though there are few elements trying to spread canards about J&K, there is no need to pay heed to them.

He said that after the special status granted to the J&K was scrapped, the region has witnessed massive change with respect to investments and influx of foreign tourists.

The L-G said the GDP for 2024-25 has been projected at Rs 2,63,399 crore in the Interim Budget presented in Parliament.

Referring to J&K Bank, Sinha said it was showing a loss of Rs 1,200 crore. Today, it is running a profit of Rs 1,300 crore which is expected to reach Rs 1,800 crore at the end of this financial year, he said. The NPA of the bank dropped from 11 per cent to 4.3 per cent.

In the last two years, there has been a 2.5 per cent increase in the foreign tourists in J&K. Today, J&K is not a hotspot for terrorists but tourists. Our neighbour no longer issues a calendar for strikes, but the administration of J&K issues a calendar for festivals, he added.

Sinha said that prior to the scrapping of Article 370, J&K was a place where even the President could not buy land or even soldiers in the region who put their lives at risk. Under the leadership of PM Modi this is possible. As many as 92,565 projects were completed during the last financial year compared to the highest of 9,229 projects in a financial year a few years back, he said.

He launched ‘J&K Sambhaav Utsav-2024’, a seven-day long exhibition which will represent the best of cultural artistic heritage, cuisine, agriculture and handicraft products of J&K.

The L-G also launched Information-cum-facilitation hub ‘Hello J&K’, digital photography, painting and singing competitions for Youth on the theme Know Jammu & Kashmir.

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