STATE TIMES NEWS
HIRANAGAR: Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh on Sunday said areas like border districts which were neglected earlier have now become role model for the country.
He said bringing governance at the doorsteps of the people to the last man in the last queue is possible only under Narendra Modi whose endeavour, after being sworn in as the Prime Minister of India in 2014, has been to address the people’s issues on the spot through ‘public darbars’ with district administration.
The governance cannot be restricted to the district headquarters only and a departure from this practice was necessary so that people’s issues could be addressed on the spot with district administration, Singh said at a ‘public darbar’ here.
He asserted that development has reached the last man in the queue under PM Narendra Modi, and said the areas which were neglected earlier like the border districts under the previous governments have now become the role models for the country, the best example being the border district of Kathua, “which is considered now the epitome of development and governance in the country”, according to an official statement.
Singh, who is the Lok Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur constituency, said it is for the first time after 20 years that hundreds of acres of border land have been brought under cultivation “bringing back the lost smiles on the faces of border dwellers in Kathua” which has been possible only under the present government which believes in the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ under PM Modi.
He said Kathua is now considered the role model of development in the country due to various development initiatives undertaken there.
During the ‘public darbar’, Singh addressed certain issues on the spot related to the Delhi-Katra express highway such as land compensation, crossings at certain points for public convenience.
The minister directed the top officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) present during the public darbar to speed up the work on the express highway and also look into the genuine issues raised by the public in a time bound manner, the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.
Taking to reporters, the Union Minister said the decision taken by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to disqualify Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was as per rules, and questioning the decision was like targeting the Constitution.
“Today, it is age of reasons. Whatever decision was taken by the Lok Sabha secretariat was taken as per rules,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kathua district.
He said to question the decision was to put a question mark on the Constitution, Indian democracy and the country’s parliamentary system.
Replying to another question on assembly elections in J and K, Singh said, “The BJP is always ready for elections, but the decision (to hold the elections) is to be taken by the Election Commission.”