Centre announces Rs80,000-cr development package for J&K
23 Jan 2020
The centre on Wednesday announced a Rs80,000-crore development package for Jammu and Kashmir, which is expected to give a major boost to various sectors, including education, tourism, infrastructure in the Valley and create thousands of job opportunities for educated but unemployed Kashmiri youth.
The announcement was made by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD). The development package is also intended to uplift the socio-economic status of the people of the area.
Announcing the development package, union minister of state for HRD, communications, and electronics and information technology Sanjay Dhotre said the package will enable opening of IITs, IIMs and AIIMs as well as development of highways, power generation and irrigation projects.
He said the projects which have been lying dormant for several decades are also being revived in a speedy manner.”
The minister was addressing the central government’s special public outreach programme to disseminate information about the implementation of its policies and programmes for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir and its people at Kalakote.
During his 2 days visit to Jammu & Kashmir, Dhotre visited Kalakote and Naushera blocks of the Rajauri district. He interacted with the general public and also inaugurated many government projects there. He also visited various establishments, reviewed the ongoing schemes and interacted with senior J&K officers along with the senior officers of departments under his all three ministries.
Main objectives of the visit were to discuss the various developmental schemes of the central government with the general public being executed under the Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP).
PMDP aims to execute effective implementation of various schemes targeting the individual beneficiaries, restart long-pending projects by removing the obstacles that have been holding such projects and to ensure effective administration with transparency.
Dhotre apprised people of J&K about the various steps taken by the union government for the rapid progress of the region, especially after the abrogation of the Article 370 and creation of the new union territory. An important objective of such special public outreach programme is to take more than fifty central schemes to all the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Effective popularisation and implementation of these schemes will lead to equal opportunities, educational and economic development, employment creation and industrial development in the new union territory.
It may be recalled that on Monday, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had indicated that at least 25 projects will come up in newly-created union territory worth Rs25,000 crore by March 2021. Describing Jammu and Kashmir as the "jewel" of the nation, he added that the government would come up with an industrial package for the union territory, hoping to attract larger investments.
At least 36 union ministers are visiting Jammu and Kashmir as part of the centre's outreach programme. The move comes six months after the centre scrapped the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state.
Prominent among those who will be visiting the Valley are telecommunications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, minister of state for defence Shripad Naik and minister of state for home affairs G Kishan Reddy.