Top leaders of Jammu and Kashmir including Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti have reached Delhi in the all-party meeting with PM Modi.
People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) – a group of Kashmir-based parties that includes National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a few other smaller parties – after a flip-flop have all decided to join The party meeting will be held in New Delhi on Thursday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Top 14 leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Sajjad Lone and others, will meet the Prime Minister for the first time since August 5, 2019, when the Center announced its decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it. in two union territories.
Read also: Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti to attend PM Modi’s all-party meeting
During the last two years, many things have changed in the then conflict-ridden state. Public friendly decisions have put the Union Territory on the path of peace, prosperity and development.
PM Modi’s ‘New Jammu and Kashmir’ plan
Kashmiri leaders have to keep their mind and heart open as Modi has shown generosity by inviting them. The Prime Minister has indicated that he wants the traditional politicians of Kashmir to be a part of the ‘New Jammu and Kashmir’ and play a constructive role.
Statements from different quarters in New Delhi indicate that Modi is ready to walk an extra mile, but looks unlikely to roll back the abrogation of Article 370, a temporary provision of the Constitution that allowed the two finished. years ago, or negotiate with Pakistan.
Mehbooba Mufti’s Pakistan Tune
The tone for the meeting has already been set and Kashmiri leaders, especially former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, need to understand that the clock cannot be reversed and there is a need to raise such issues. There are no meanings that have lost importance.
Read also: ‘PM should also talk to Pakistan’: Mehbooba Mufti ahead of all-party meeting on Kashmir
Soon after the PAGD announced its decision to attend the all-party meeting called by the Prime Minister, the PDP chief demanded that Modi should talk to Pakistan as well.
“If they can go to Doha and talk to the Taliban, they should hold talks with us and also with Pakistan so that a resolution can be brought,” Mehbooba told reporters in Srinagar.
The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir needs to realize that the Kashmir problem was resolved once and for all by fully merging Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India on August 5, 2019, and Pakistan is no stakeholder. is.
If she doesn’t pay heed to her words, they may misrepresent her and prove her critics right, who leave no chance to claim that she is ‘anti-national’, ‘Kashmir- opponents’, and they have ‘separatist leanings’. ‘.
The priority of the development center of Jammu and Kashmir
Last week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital and reviewed various development projects being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir.
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He said that the all-round development and welfare of the people of the Union Territory is the top priority of the Narendra Modi-led government.
Shah made it clear that as the Prime Minister had said, there would be no compromise on “development with transparency”.
The Home Minister directed the officials to expedite the completion of major and prestigious projects including PM development package and industrial development projects.
Shah also directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure that all farmers are provided the benefits of schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana, under which Rs 6,000 annually is directly deposited into farmers’ accounts, and the Kisan Credit Card scheme. , along with others.
He said that it should be ensured that the benefits of industrial policy reach the small scale industries.
The Home Minister also spoke about the efforts being made to provide employment to the youth and institutional reforms like geo-tagging of all development works placed in public domain, procurement through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) model and institutional reforms. explained in detail. Direct deposit of money into the bank accounts of almost hundred percent beneficiaries of Gram Swaraj, Social Security and other individual beneficiary schemes.
He lauded the 90 per cent reach of various schemes of the central government in Jammu and Kashmir and lauded Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and his team for covering 76 per cent of the population under the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
no room for rhetoric
It is quite clear that the Center has a clear agenda, which revolves around development. There is no room for rhetoric and unnecessary discussion.
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The transformation of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory has proved to be a boon for the common man. The system has been changed and things are moving very fast.
Overview of development projects after 5 August 2019
Just a month after the abrogation of Article 370, Union Energy Minister RK Singh and the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik jointly inaugurated 15 power projects and laid the foundation stone of 20 others worth Rs 10,000 crore in September 2019.
The world’s highest railway bridge over the Chenab river, which is expected to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country for the first time, is likely to be completed by 2022.
The government has announced that it will renovate 11 airports, including two on the India-China border, while military airports on the India-Pakistan border like Poonch, Rajouri and Gurez will also be expanded and opened for civilian use.
For the development of the information and technology sector in J&K, several concessions such as providing “rent subsidy” to outside investors have been introduced.
The government’s policy document envisages two IT parks – one each in Srinagar and Jammu – spread over an area of 5 lakh square feet.
According to the Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, Sanjay Dhotre, after August 5, 2019, the Center has expedited the process of opening IITs, IIMs and AIIMs in Jammu and Kashmir and will also help in building highways, power generation and irrigation projects allowed development. .
Projects lying dormant for the past several decades are also being revived rapidly.
Dhotre had said that various development plans include expediting the projects being executed under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP); Execute effective implementation of various schemes targeting individual beneficiaries; Resumption of long pending projects by removing the constraints holding such projects; and to ensure effective administration with transparency.
In July 2020, nearly a year after the abrogation of Article 370, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated six bridges in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
Four bridges were constructed on the Akhnoor-Pallanwala road at Akhnoor, while two bridges were built on the Tarnah drain in Kathua district at a total cost of Rs 43 crore.
The dedication of the bridges to the people of J&K sent a big message that India would continue to develop critical infrastructure in the border areas, despite hostility by any adversary.
Rajnath Singh said, “Our government is committed to promote infrastructure in our borders and necessary resources will be made available for this. Our government is deeply interested in the development of Jammu and Kashmir.”
While these bridges were being constructed, Prime Minister Modi was regularly monitoring the progress of these projects and adequate funds were being made available for their timely implementation.
Work on the Shahpur-Kandi power and irrigation project, which had not been started for five decades, is in progress. The Ujh project was fast-tracked, and the Metro Rail is on its way to Srinagar and Jammu.
Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) conducted a trial run of vehicular traffic through the newly constructed 8.5 km long Banihal-Qazigund road tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
Work on the crucial tunnel, which passes through the middle of the Pir Panjal mountain range, will reduce the travel distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 16 km on the strategic highway.
The opening of this tunnel will bring great relief to the commuters as it passes through the Jawahar Tunnel, which remains closed for several days due to heavy snowfall during winters.
Center ready to serve everything in a plate
New Delhi has given enough indications that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood will be restored soon and assembly elections in the union territory could be held in 2022 soon after the delimitation exercise is completed.
The ball is now in the court of the traditional leaders of the Valley. They have to decide what they want, whether they want to be stuck in the past or move on.
If they become part of Modi’s vision, they will be able to serve the people of J&K in a better way, but if they continue to talk on irrelevant issues, they may end up as fencers .
Modi has given them a golden opportunity to join the mainstream and help the people of J&K to prosper. From the day Kashmiri leaders got the invitation from New Delhi, they are excited and willing to participate in the all-party meeting.
If all goes well, there will be a fresh start for them and the snow is all set to melt.
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