STATE TIMES NEWS
KATHUA: Hitting out at Congress and National Conference for following a policy of appeasement to the extent of being inhuman, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said here on Saturday that both these parties not only discriminated between one section of people and the other section but they also went to the extent to discriminating between LoC (Line of Control) and IB (International Border) purely for vote considerations.
Better to close down dozen offices than losing single human life: Dr Jitendra on KP terror threat
Kathua: Indicating a thaw in the government’s stance on relocation of under-threat Kashmiri Pandit employees from the valley, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said it is better to save a human life even if it means closing down a dozen offices.
He also hit out at the opposition parties accusing them of following the policy of appeasement to the extent of being “inhuman.”
He alleged that these parties not only discriminated between people but also went to the extent of discriminating between Line of Control and International Border purely for vote considerations. “This should be addressed amicably and with sensitivity. My personal opinion is that nothing can be more valuable than a human life,” the minister told reporters in Kathua. “If there is a threat even to one life, it is better to save that life even if it means closing down a dozen offices.”
Singh was in Kathua to lay the foundation stone of central PMGSY road from Bakhta to Magloor in Jalota area.
Addressing a public rally after the ceremony, Singh said the previous governments headed by opposition parties crossed all limits of ethics and propriety when they allowed reservation for people living along LoC but denied the same benefits to the people living along the IB.
“They did so because their MLAs were elected from the areas along the LoC, some of whom also became the ministers. They denied the same benefit to the people living along IB or on the Pakistan border, mostly in Kathua and Samba districts, because the people here did not vote for them,” the Union minister said.
He said this discrepancy was corrected only after the Modi government came to power when the people living near the IB were given justice with the grant of four per cent reservation, the same as people living along LoC.
Singh also said the government was making efforts to set up a satellite hospital and Tata Cancer Centre in Kathua. “This will provide the latest hi-tech facility for cancer patients from J&K, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.”
On Keedian Gandyal bridge, he said it was not constructed over the last 70 years because it would have benefitted mere 2,000 people, but “we had the courage and conviction to construct a bridge for these people at a cost of over Rs 150 Crore.”
Along the route of the holy Machil Yatra before 2014 there were neither toilets, nor mobile connectivity, nor electricity because these people did not figure in their list of the vote bank, he said.
“It is this government which set up toilets and mobile towers there and recently sanctioned one exclusive solar power plant for the village,” he added.
Referring to one of the first Industrial Biotech Parks which has been set up in Kathua, Singh said people will realise its worth over a period of time.
He said that due to the Modi government the Shahpur Kandi project was revived after 40 years, and the Ujh multipurpose irrigation project, which was conceived for the first-time during Maharaja’s rule, is also scheduled to take off very soon.
Addressing a large public rally after laying the foundation stone of Central PMGSY road from Bakhta to Magloor in Jalota area of district Kathua, Dr Jitendra said, the Congress and National Conference governments crossed all limits of ethics and propriety when they allowed reservation for people living along LoC in district Rajouri and Poonch areas from where these two parties got their MLAs elected, some of whom also became Ministers but, denied the same benefit to the people living along IB on Pakistan Border mostly in Kathua and Samba districts because the people here did not vote for these two parties.
He said, this discrepancy was corrected only after the Modi government came to power and the people living near the IB were also given justice by granting 4% reservation on the lines of the people living along LoC.
On the occasion, Dr Jitendra also announced the setting up of a satellite hospital, Tata Cancer Centre at Kathua. This, he said, will provide the latest hi-tech facility for cancer patients from J&K, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
Dr Jitendra said in the last 7-8 years, while nearly 200 bridges were constructed in the constituency, some of them like Atal Setu and Keedian Gandyal qualify to be included in outstanding national projects, at the same time a new work culture as well as political culture has been sought to be created wherein benefits were granted to the people or the religion who require it and not on the basis of whether they have cast their vote in favour of BJP or any other party.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, for 70 years Keedian Gandyal bridge was not constructed because it benefited a mere 2000 population but we had the courage of conviction to construct a bridge for these people at a cost of over Rs.150 Crore. Similarly, he said, along the route of the holy Machil Yatra before 2014 there were neither toilets nor mobile connectivity nor electricity because these people did not figure in their list of vote bank. It is this government which set up toilets and mobile towers there, and recently sanctioned one exclusive solar power plant for the village, he added.
Referring to one of the first Industrial Biotech Parks which has been set up in Kathua, Dr Jitendra Singh said gradually over a period of time when start-up culture picks up in the region and attraction of livelihood arrives here, the children of the next generation will realise its value and worth.
Dr Jitendra also referred to one of the country’s first monument to be named after Syama Prasad Mookerjee at Chenani-Nashri Tunnel and said that it will be a testimony in the history because Syama Prasad Mookerji was arrested at Kathua and taken for his last journey of life to Srinagar through the road located.
Thanking Prime Minister Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, not only national level projects moved on fast track but several held up projects were also picked up by this government. While the Shahpur Kandi project was revived after 40 years, the Ujh-multipurpose irrigation project which was conceived for the first time during Maharaja’s rule is also set to take off very soon.