STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Batting for regaining the lost trust and negating the misgivings in certain sections in Jammu and Kashmir, Governor N N Vohra on Tuesday said the State government sees 2018 as a year of opportunities and a period for fully exploiting all possible openings and opportunities.
He also called for tough and targeted actions by the security forces to ensure that the arc of violence does not spread from the fringes to the mainstream, to disrupt the lives in the valley yet again.
“We shall need to regain the lost trust and negate the misgivings in certain sections of our society (in Kashmir),” he said in his address to the joint session of the legislature.
“The subsequent appointment by the Union government of a special representative to hold talks with the people belonging to all shades of opinion is recognition of the concern for widening the constituency of peace, to include even those who may have contrary ideological convictions,” Vohra said.
The Governor hoped that 2018 will prove to be a year of opportunities on several fronts.
“Government firmly believes that the elected and the electorate have equal stakes in the peace process and, together, they will have to rise against those who choose violence to disrupt the established order,” he said.
The governor further said “such challenges will be met through dialogue, which is the best means of resolving all disagreements”.
He said the government appeals to all those who had earlier refused to be part of the peace process to come forward and accept the special representative for Kashmir’s offer for engaging in dialogue.
Vohra batted strongly for tough and targeted action by security forces in checking violence.
“For the past several months our security forces have been successfully carrying out targeted counter terrorist operations. While they shall engage in such operations whenever it is necessary to do so, it is hoped that these shall involve the least possible collateral damage to the lives and properties of innocent persons,” he said.
He also hailed the role of the brave hearts of Army, Central Armed Police Forces and the J&K Police who have been operating in the most difficult circumstances and laying down their lives in the fight against terror and violence.
He said that while the valour and sacrifices made by our police personnel cannot ever be viewed in monetary terms, the government has, to express it unbounded gratitude, taken several measures for further enhancing the welfare of our policemen and their families.
“Side by side, recognising the serious visual disabilities suffered by youth who received pellet injuries, government has decided to rehabilitate them and mitigate their sufferings to the maximum possible extent,” he added.
The Governor said that the government is aware of the growing aspirations of our students, some of whom have secured outstanding achievements in academics, sports and many other fields.
“As regards our youth who have been influenced and misled into deviating from the path, the government remains committed to weaning them away from the purveyors of violence,” he said.
Vohra said the real battle is “not on the streets but to combat and counter the deviation of the younger generation from the inherited values of our society”.
Outlining various achievements of the government, Vohra hoped that the New Year would bring peace and enable development.
He urged lawmakers to make “some resolutions” in the New Year to advance the development of “our people and our state”.
He said “let us resolve that from now onwards the problems faced in recent years” will not be allowed to become a baggage for the future, and added that the anxieties of the people will be replaced by aspirations of a prosperous future.
“I take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy New Year and hope that 2018 shall be the harbinger of an era of peace which shall enable rapid growth and development of the state and foster harmonious social relations across the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir,” he told lawmakers.
He outlined the development-related programmes undertaken by the Union and the state governments.
“The major part of the Prime Minister’s Development Package is dedicated to enhancing physical connectivity. The projects under the PMDP, upon implementation, will transform the infrastructural landscape of the state,” he stressed.
The Union government was making a Rs 42,668 crore investment through the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and the Ministry of Defence, and 19 projects have been approved, which include national highway projects, he said.
Some of the projects he mentioned included the Chenani- Nashri Tunnel, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, and the Jammu Udhampur Highway (completed).
He said the government was seized of the traffic problems in the capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and has initiated steps for structural changes to the landscapes of the cities.
To improve the traffic situation, Vohra said: “Unless the twin capital cities are decongested through appropriate detours, underpasses and flyovers, commuters would continue to face severe traffic jams, which would be unacceptable.”
He said the government was making efforts to provide uninterrupted electricity to all registered consumers and to cover all un-electrified areas by 2019.
His address to the lawmakers also had a special mention of the devastating floods in 2014 in which more than 300 people died.
“The enormous damage done by the September 2014 floods cannot be forgotten. It reminds us of our systemic failure to appreciate the imperatives of flood management in the Valley and in the whole state,” he said, adding that the government was committed to finding a permanent solution to the problem.
Vohra said a comprehensive flood management plan for river Jhelum has been devised and was under implementation.
To transform the state into a business hub, the state government has implemented 270 business reforms advised by the Union government, he said. “This has enormously improved our inter-state rankings. In a major shift, any new Industrial Unit in the state is presently being registered online”.
He said that consistent with the national goals, the state government was working towards declaring all urban areas as Open Defecation Free (ODF) by March 31, 2018.
“It is a matter of serious concern that the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to the Gross State Domestic Production has been steadily declined over the decades,” he said.
“More recently, it has declined from 28.16 per cent in 2004-05 to 15.89 per cent in 2015-16. The government has decided to take steps to revive the agriculture sector. As a part of this renewed focus, steps are being taken to double the farmers’ income by 2022, in line with the national target,” he added.
He described the tourism sector as the “mainstay of our economy”, citing data that around 1.2 million tourists, including over 26,000 foreigners, visited the state in 2017.
The Governor said more than eight million pilgrims paid obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, while about 2.60 lakh yatris visited the Amarnath Shrine last year.
He praised the women of the state for being “stakeholders in furthering peace and development.”
“Safety and security of our women is among the priorities of the government,” he said.
On the return of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley, he said the Prime Minister’s package has been a key initiative aimed at ensuring the return of Kashmiri Pandits.
Vohra said the government was committed to look after the Kashmiri Pandits, who chose to stay when their brethren left the Valley during the period when militancy peaked.
