STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday appealed to students to refrain from stone pelting, and said if they keep indulging in such activities, the state will have no doctors, engineers and teachers in the future.
“Children have to go to schools, study and come out as doctors, dental surgeons, engineers, teachers”.
“But if they (students) throw stones in protest rallies, we will have no doctors, engineers and teachers in future,” Mehbooba said at an event here.
The Chief Minister said education is a necessity for the development and growth of the country.
“It was Mufti Mohammad Sayeed sahib, who always said that if you want to build a strong community, you will have to nourish it with education and strengthen their power to think.”
“Education is a multi-dimensional development of self and the society. I am very happy that Jammu and Kashmir is moving forward in its journey of educational sector,” she said.
Quoting an Arabic verse, Mehbooba said “as the holy month of Ramzan is very important for the Muslim world, so is it important for boys and girls to get education.
“It was my Kashmiri Pandit friends, who used to swear in the name of education (vidhya), instead of family members, Gods and Goddesses. It was this tradition that was prevalent in the Valley of Kashmir,” she said.
She said the government is taking steps to create skilled and technical manpower in the state.
While Kashmir was witnessing unrest, some “miscreants” took advantage of it and engaged in encroachments and illegal construction in the valley, Mehbooba Mufti said adding she has ordered a drive for removal of such structures.
So far over 250 such structures have been dismantled, she said here.
“In Kashmir, while the situation turned bad, encroachment and illegal constructions were going on in and around Dal Lake and other places,” Mehbooba said here on Tuesday.
“Huge wrongs were done under the garb of this unrest. As people were engaged in protest rallies in Kashmir, some miscreants took advantage of it,” she said, adding shops and houses were illegally constructed and wood from forests was being smuggled.
Disclosing that she had given orders for removal of the encroachments, she said over 250 illegal constructions have been dismantled so far. “We have only land that is available to us where we can make projects in the future,” the Chief Minister said.
She said she had heard that “huge encroachments” had taken place in Jammu region also where some people took advantage of the unrest in Kashmir “as most of government setup is focused towards it”.
“There are not only poor people who are engaged in encroachments but there are big guns engaged in these encroachments.
CM pulls up bureaucracy
Jammu: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday pulled up the bureaucracy for delays in the completion of the development projects in the state and asked them to complete projects in a time-bound manner, without taking advantage of the unrest in the Valley.
“Please help the government as Jammu and Kashmir is passing through tough times as we are working hard to bring normalcy in the Kashmir Valley. That does not mean that you will take benefit of that (unrest) and will do nothing here (in Jammu) by saying that nobody is watching us,” she told the officials at a meeting here. She said that “huge amount of money” has come from the Government of India for projects like hospitals, educational institutions and tourism, roads and there will be no shortage of funds “even if we keep spending” this money.
“Our primary job is to bring package and money from the central government, approve projects, but officers have to implement it on the ground in time-bound manner. You need to work on these projects whole heartedly and honestly,” she said here at a meeting.
She said there is delay whether it is identification of land or anything else.
Pointing towards state Health Minister Bali Bhagat, Mehbooba said the AIIMS have been sanctioned by the central government but delay in identification of land for the hospital has kept the entire project hanging. Expressing displeasure over the bureaucratic delays, she said, “Meetings after meetings are held and it is being said that it will be done in the next meeting. Why this delay?”
Appreciating completion of food craft institution in time-bound manner, she said lessons should be taken from it. Turning to Divisional Commissioner (Jammu) Pawan Kotwal, the Chief Minister said, “you are the head of the region’s administrative setup and it is your duty to see what are the reasons that these projects are getting delayed.
“You will have to see why works have been halted after the project was approved, DPRs were made and work was started. If we work dedicatedly and honestly for completion of these projects in time-bound manner, the picture of Jammu and Kashmir will change for good in next four years.”
Describing the officials as “eyes, ears and arms” of the political leadership, Mehbooba said, “you need to deliver on the ground. The political bosses are temporarily in the governing setup but bureaucracy and officers are permanent.
Today I am here, yesterday somebody else was here and tomorrow there can be anybody else but you all are going to stay here. So the responsibility is more on your shoulders for ensuring progress and development of the state.”
Asking officials to work with honesty and dedication, she told them, “the way you do your own home work properly and take urgent repairs of your homes in case of any damage, please work with such enthusiasm on the ground for whole of the state.”
