Discrimination in J&K ended by Modi govt, says Jitendra

The people of the country have full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decisions, Union Minister Jitendra Singh asserted on Sunday and said the past critics of the BJP eagerly want to join the party to secure their political future.

He said the discrimination with different regions of Jammu and Kashmir over the past many decades was ended by the Modi government.

“Those people who were teasing our party are waiting eagerly to pick up our party flag and those who do not get a chance are troubled the leaders who were our critics in the past want to join us to secure their political future,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kathua district.

He said after the Modi government took over the reins of the country, the decades long discrimination with different regions of Jammu and Kashmir was ended.

“Those who are complaining today (about governance) are the same who remained in power for the past 40 or 50 years,” Singh, who is minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, said

Lauding the prime minister for his role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said the way he led the nation of 135 crore people is acknowledged all over the world.

“India announced a lockdown around March 2020 when people were raising questions about the need for such a move. Today, everyone recognizes the wisdom of our prime minister which kept people safe from the infection,” he said.

The Prime Minister Modi-led fight against COVID-19 put India in the league of major nations around the globe, Singh said.

“People of the country have full faith in the decisions of their prime minister. He too has faith in the public,” he said.

Singh also referred to the vaccination drive against COVID-19 and said the Modi government is taking every decision on scientific outlook and objective rationale.

“The country is exporting vaccines to other countries and has also overcome the earlier shortage of PPE kits. When vaccination was started in the country, the priority was given to health workers and (coronavirus) warriors,” he said, adding that Modi himself took the vaccine later as per his age group.

Asked about his comment on senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s remarks that the autocratic rule of the Maharajas was far better than that of the current government, Singh said the question here is whether he wants democracy or not.

On restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly made it clear that statehood will be restored at an appropriate time and that he had nothing to add to the statement.

He also that said democracy at the grassroots has been strengthened in Jammu and Kashmir since the conduct of the District Development Council (DDC) elections.

“A new political culture has been set in the country under the Modi government that is based on equality for all without discrimination of any kind. With this new political culture all the constitutional values and principles are being followed at every level, especially in the governance,” Singh, who is minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, said.

He said a big change in terms of inclusive development is now evident at the ground level that reiterates the government’s mantra ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’, in accordance with the principle of “justice for all, appeasement to none”.

Prime Minister Modi has emphasised that development should not be restricted to a few places but should be taken to far-flung areas where development was earlier only talked about but never done, Singh said.

The Shahpur-Kandi project revived after 40 years, north India’s first cable-stayed bridge Atal Setu, J&K’s first inter-state bridge at Keerian-Gandyal, north India’s first bio-tech industrial park, north India’s first express road corridor from Delhi to Katra via Kathua, a new National Highway from Lakhanpur-Bani-Basohli-Doda via Chattargala Tunnel, and centrally-funded Government Medical College, engineering colleges and degree colleges have placed Kathua as one of the most enviable districts of India, he said.

“The grassroots democracy has been strengthened in Jammu and Kashmir since the conduct of the DDC elections that was overdue since many decades. This was a proof of the importance that the prime minister gave to strengthen the pillars of democracy in the Union Territory,” Singh said.

He said Prime Minister Modi took personal interest in the Shahpur Kandi Dam Project and it was only with his personal intervention that the work on this project resumed after 45 years, which was earlier stalled due to one or the other reasons.

The minister also e-inaugurated a 100-bed girls’ hostel to be built at the Basoli Government High School, many development projects under the PMGSY at Mashka, Mandli and Kehanta, long vented causeways at Stoora and Badala and span type steel bridges at Mashka and Ghatti.

He also distributed cheques to beneficiaries of the Ladli Beti Scheme and the State Marriage Assistance Scheme, provided keys of tractors to beneficiaries of the Horticulture Department and felicitated many students of the district for their outstanding performance and provided them with the sports kits.