 Early Times Report
Kathua, Jun 26 : Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today asserted that the Centre will stand behind the Mufti government on all fronts and help in changing the picture of Jammu and Kashmir by ushering in development. "We have the government in J&K with Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed and I want to assure them that Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre will firmly stand behind the government," he told a public rally after laying the foundation stone for construction on river Ravi at Lakhanpur belt here.
The Union Minister of Road, Transport and Shipping, stated that his government's efforts aim at getting rid of poverty, hunger and unemployment in the state. "We want to help farmers and provide jobs to unemployed youth and change the picture of Jammu and Kashmir", he said. Flanked by Union Minister Jitendra Singh and PWD Minister Syed Altaf Bukhari, Gadkari said,"I want to assure you (people of J&K) that I will come here again and review the projects from time to time".
Underlining the various development projects for the state by his ministry, he said that Jammu-Akhnoor road will be upgraded to four lane road and extended to Poonch. The Parimpora-Uri road has been approved and we want to have Jammu a bypass. Once the tunnels are constructed, the road connectivity to Leh and Ladakh will be a round-the-year affair, he said. "We will ensure equal development in all the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir. We will fully support the government here," he said. Gadkari lamented that, "Even after 65 years of democracy, large number of the villages are still not connected by roads, no power or water supply and poor educational setup". The BJP leader also hit out at Congress on the plank of development-oriented politics.
"Congress never talked about development and instead they practiced politics of communalism and casteism. They poisoned the country on these lines," he said. He accused the party of "spreading rumours about the saffron party being anti-minority". "I want to assure you that the work of development of road networks which has not been done for past 30 years, we will do in next five years in J&K," he asserted.
The Union Minister announced that Rs 26,000 crores worth road projects have been approved. "We are constructing big tunnels. Every tunnel costs Rs 10,000 crores. Cement roads are being set up. I have talked to J&K government -and assured that I will approve road projects worth Rs 1,000 crores from previous package of Rs 150 crores," he added . |
