Work On Various Development Projects In Jammu And Kashmir Going In Full Swing, Says Union Minister Puri

In the recent past, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed signing of 168 MoUs amounting to Rs 13,600 crore and seven new medical colleges have been sanctioned with medical seats increasing from 500 to 955.

With the sanctioning of 25 new national highway projects at an estimated cost of Rs 11,721 crore, world's highest rail bridge coming up at a faster pace over Chenab and the indigenously built Vande Bharat train in operation from Jammu to Delhi, a new dawn of development has commenced in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370.

The PM's development initiatives in J&K have created an emotional bond between the people and the country, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said while interacting with the media in Srinagar on 14 November.

Central schemes directly benefit the people and I am glad that work is going on at the ground level, the minister added.

With the increase of tourist footfall to more than one lakh, Puri said people are investing in the economic development in the Union Territory of J&K because of the centre’s decision to remove the bottleneck of Article 370 and 35A.

Under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, some 12 lakh LPG connections have been provided under PM Ujjwala, 50,000 houses have been sanctioned under PMAY (U), Puri said.

The Minister reviewed the progress of work on various development projects and work done as per government schemes like PM Awas Yojana, PM Ujwala, PM SVANidhi, SBM 2.0 and Amrut 2.0.

Reviewing progress of various development projects in Srinagar, he said that application of modern technology to solid waste management is the need of the hour and Srinagar will be among the cities where such strategies will be adopted on a priority basis.

Interacting with the beneficiaries of various centrally sponsored schemes, Puri said that there are many schemes and projects under Housing and Urban Affairs that people need to take advantage of.

Elaborating on the work undertaken in Srinagar under the smart city project, Puri highlighted that urban planning is essential as new settlements in cities have come up and there is a need to replace the old traditions to deal with the new challenges.

Commenting on the economic boost due to development in urban space, the Minister said that the urban space had been neglected earlier and the government took the opportunity to reform this sector, which is evident from the fact that cities are now the largest contributors to the GDP of the country.

The Minister was briefed about the redevelopment of the city by the district administration.

While handing over the sanction letters to the beneficiaries of various schemes, the Minister said that the benefits of development should reach the poorest at the grass-roots level and the government is ensuring that it takes care of people in terms of any adversity.