''You have created such a Jammu and Kashmir which is eager to make its full contribution towards developed India ''

Manoj Sinha

I, from the core of my heart, welcome and compliment honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, the architect of new India and new Jammu and Kashmir, to the city of temples, Jammu. Honorable Prime Minister, on 5 August 2019, you freed Jammu and Kashmir from the shackles of seven decades of suffering, injustice, separatism, terrorism and corruption developing it as a new role model of socio-economic empowerment.

Honorable Prime Minister had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 20,000 crore during the program in Samba in April 2022. The Prime Minister would today lay foundation stone and inaugurate historic development projects worth Rs 32,247 crore. Other schemes worth Rs 20,000 crore will be completed in the coming four months.

 By March, other projects worth about Rs 60,000 crore will be completed and dedicated to welfare and development of common citizens. The overall comprehensive transformation and the hustle and bustle of development in every corner of the UT is a visible proof of commitment of Honorable Prime Minister towards building a glorious, developed Jammu and Kashmir.

Honourable Prime Minister has ensured social justice, equality and inclusive development mere within a short span of five years. Refugees from Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and West Pakistan have got social justice after decades and now their ownership rights on land and property are being ensured. Dalits, tribals, backward classes, women and other weaker sections of the society have been empowered socially, economically and politically by the Honorable Prime Minister and if we look at the figures, about 1.25 crore deprived people have been brought into the mainstream of development.

For the first time in history, reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes in Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies has been provided and timely elections to Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies will be ensured. For women empowerment, 33% seats have been reserved for the female fraternity. Scheduled Tribe reservation has been extended to Pahari, Padari, Koli and Gadda Brahmins. I express my heartiest gratitude to the Honorable Prime Minister for this historic decision. At the same time, the interests of Gujjar, Bakarwal, Gaddi, Sippy and other tribes have been protected and the ideal of social harmony has been presented by the Honorable Prime Minister by ensuring them the same reservation as before.

The participation of 42 lakh citizens in the Vikas Bharat Sankalp Yatra has ensured

that the vehicle guaranteed by the Honorable Prime Minister reaches every family with the benefits of all the schemes. Jammu and Kashmir is among the best performing UTs/states of the country in this mass movement. Also, the outstanding performance of Jammu and Kashmir in the public campaigns like “Azadi ke Amrit Mahotsav”, “Har Ghar Tiranga”, “Meri Mati Mera Desh” is a proof that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Jammu and Kashmir is marching towards the golden age in Amrit Kaal.

Under the leadership of Honorable Prime Minister, industrialization has transformed the outlook of Jammu and Kashmir. So far, investment proposals worth Rs 90,182 crore have been received. Industrial investment of more than Rs 14,000 crore has either been realized on ground or related projects are in the pipeline and efforts are being made to start the projects at a rapid pace. Besides, 46 new industrial estates are being developed.

Under the leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister, the aspirations of youth of Jammu and Kashmir are connected with the aspirations of the nation. From 2021-22 to January 2024, 8 lakh 34 thousand youth have been provided self-employment opportunities. In government jobs, recruitment has been done on more than 34,000 posts on the basis of merit and recruitment process is going on for 12,000 other posts. Similarly, approval has been accorded to fill more than 4000 vacant posts in Jammu and Kashmir Police here yesterday on 19th of February. More than 8 lakh women have become entrepreneurs by joining more than 87,000 self-help groups.

Honorable Prime Minister, under your leadership the speed of project completion in Jammu and Kashmir has increased ten times than before. More than 92,000 projects have been completed in the last financial year and more than one lakh projects will be completed in this fiscal.

Before 2019, only 40 e-services were available in Jammu and Kashmir, but today more than 1100 public services are being extended to the common citizens.The farmers of Jammu and Kashmir are today at the fifth position in the entire country in terms of their monthly earnings. Besides, 29 projects are being implemented under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program at a cost of Rs 5013 crore which will bring a radical change in lives of 13 lakh families.

The whole world is witness to the fact that the Honorable Prime Minister has givevery citizen, of Jammu and Kashmir, the right to live as per their wish in the past five years. Terror incidents have reduced by 75% and local recruitment has ended. The strike calendars have stopped to be published. The administration is now publishing the calendar of education and employment. Stone pelting has now become the thing of past. Markets and schools remain open throughout the year. The common man is enjoying night life in Kashmir Valley. In the districts where, earlier, there used to be fear in the evenings, now cinema halls and restaurants are running till late night. Jammu and Srinagar cities are being seen as new models of urban transformation.

(The author is Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir) 

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