Centre committed to promote trade, tourism, technology in Jammu & Kashmir

On day four of the ongoing week-long public outreach programme, several union ministers on Tuesday addressed public gatherings in different parts of Jammu region with one of them saying the Centre is committed to promote trade, tourism and technology in the newly created Union Territory.

"The centre is striving hard to promote technology, trade and tourism in Jammu and Kashmir," Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Pratap Chandra Sarangi said at a function in Kathua district.

To provide employment and to uplift the socio-economic status of the people of the area, the minister announced the formation of Pashmina Shawl Clusters which will benefit 260 families.

Referring to his visit to border areas to inspect the construction work of underground bunkers for the protection of the people during frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistan, he said his government would leave no stone unturned to bring all the amenities at the doorstep of border dwellers.

Addressing a separate gathering at Barnoti and Hirnagar blocks of Kathua, Union Minister Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said there is a need to create "water management committees" which will help to manage, harvest and distribute water in an efficient manner.

"Water is a scarce commodity and to mitigate this problem throughout the country, the Prime Minister has announced Jal Jeevan Mission which will provide tap water to every household in the country by 2024," he said, adding, Jammu and Kashmir will achieve the target of complete piped water by 2021.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Kailash Choudhary interacted with people in Samba district and said the Centre has launched a bunch of social welfare schemes which are directly benefiting the common masses.

"The policies launched by the centre, post abolition of Article 370, for development of JK will prove a game changer in terms of its development," he said, adding that the new schemes for development of JK including sanctioning of medical colleges, educational institutions and strengthening of PRIs is bound to usher JK into a new era of progress and development.

Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda concluded a two-day tour of the mountainous Reasi district with a public meeting at Arnas, and said, "We are determined to expedite sluggish pace of projects and accelerate development programmes for the tribal as well as the general masses."

Munda informed the people that after reorganisation of the erstwhile J&K state, the Forest Rights Act is applicable here and its benefits would be visible in the days to come.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri visited Sunderbani in Rajouri district and said the Government is committed to develop J&K for which numerous innovative steps are being initiated and the same are yielding tangible results.

"A number of projects are in progress which will further reduce the developmental deficit in the UT," he said, adding, a number of new and upgraded airports would be commissioned in the UT in coming months under the Civil Aviation scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik).

"It is a Regional Connectivity Scheme launched by the government that aims to make unserved or underserved airports in small cities operational with regular flights, and offer subsidized airfares to encourage more people to fly," he said.

Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Gen (Retd) V K Singh addressed a public outreach programme for the second day in Udhampur and said the government is committed to empower the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and women empowerment is visible on the ground.  

While reviewing the progress of NH-44 from Udhampur to Chenani, Singh directed the concerned authorities to expedite the execution of work and complete the project within a time frame.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre visited Kalakote in Rajouri district, while Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur listened to people's issues at  Khour in Jammu.

Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, toured Ramban district and inaugurated Power Receiving Station, Chanderkote, Fruit and Vegetable Market Batote. PTI

(Image courtesy: PTI)