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Journalism of Courage
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Friday said that street violence has dropped, shutdown calls by terror outfits are no longer effective, schools and colleges function through the year, and projects get completed on time.
“The biggest thing is that a common Kashmiri is not bound by anyone’s diktat. There was a time when people would aim to reach home before sunset, and now people are out till late night in Srinagar city,” L-G Sinha told The Indian Express in an interview on the eve of the completion of four years since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution. The Article 370 abrogation, which is being heard in the Supreme Court now, had resulted in the withdrawal of the special status to J&K and its downgrade from a state to an UT.
According to Sinha, who took oath as J&K L-G just about three years ago, the common people and the poor lost out the most. “If there are over 1.8 crore tourists here, employment opportunities have increased. Any project or work that would begin and should have been completed in one or two years, would take five years and no accountability for it. The common person was in the most difficult position and now they have been rid of it. I feel that this is most important,” he said, providing an assessment of the security scenario between 2019 and now.
The L-G said the UT has made rapid progress in infrastructure development as well as the social sector. “With infrastructure, highway and tunnel projects worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore are ongoing. In terms of rural roads under PMGSY, we are number three in the country. We are laying 20 kms of road every day,” he said. With five new power projects under construction, J&K would add 3,200 MW to its current generation capacity of 3,450 MW, he said.
On investments by the private sector in the UT, Sinha said prior to the new industrial scheme of 2021, approximately Rs 13,000 crore worth investment had taken place in J&K. “We received proposals worth more than Rs 80,000 crore under the new scheme. I will tell you very responsibly that on the ground works worth Rs 27,000 crore are ongoing. Some are in production now, some will take a few months, and some in another year. The challenge was finding land. We have addressed this now in both Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Lieutenant Governor Sinha said while it is true that Assembly elections have not been conducted in J&K, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had laid the roadmap as per the State Reorganisation Act of 2019 – delimitation, Assembly elections, and then statehood at an appropriate time. He said the voter list has been completed now. “The Election Commission will decide on elections, and the J&K administration will be ready for it whenever they decide,” he said, adding the administration will try to ensure that panchayat and urban local body elections take place at their designated time.
