Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Minister, Shri Amit Shah laid foundation stone of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Samba and inaugurated and laid foundation stone of various development schemes in Jammu. Earlier, on Balidan Diwas of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Shri Amit Shah paid tribute to him in Trikut Nagar. Several dignitaries including Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Shri Manoj Sinha, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh were present on the occasion of inauguration and foundation stone laying of CFSL, Samba and various development schemes.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that due to the sacrifice, courage and determination of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Jammu and Kashmir is united with India and Article 370 has been abrogated. He said that Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee resigned from the post of  Minister of Industry and Supply in 1953 in his protest against the proposal to include Article 370 and Dr, Mukherjee said that Do Vidhan, Do Nishan, Do Pradhan will not work in this country. Shri Shah said that fulfilling the dream of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019. He added that the whole country including Jammu and Kashmir will remain indebted to the contribution of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and PanditPremNath Dogra, for making Jammu and Kashmir the crown of Mother India.

Union Home Minister and Minister of  Cooperation said that today the foundation stones of several development schemes have been laid in Jammu at a cost of about Rs 309 crore. Under this, CFSL at a cost of Rs 100 crore, 41 water supply schemes under Jal Jeevan Mission at Ramban and Kishtwar at a cost of Rs 157.47 crore, multi-storey parking at Doda bus stand at a cost of Rs 32.46 crore are included. Along with this, Bone and Joint Hospital at Bakshi Nagar at a cost of Rs 40.86 crore, Grid Station at a cost of Rs 17.77 crore and upgradation of road from Dogra Chowk to K.C Chowk at a cost of Rs 25 crore has also been inaugurated.

Shri Amit Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir is marching ahead on the path of development. He said that the program of distribution of Golden Health Cards has also been completed today. About 97 lakh people are getting the benefit of this Golden Health Card. Shri Shah said that in the whole country only poor people get the benefits under Pradhan MantriAyushman Bharat Yojana, while in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has decided to provide all health facilities up to Rs.5 lakh free of cost to all the citizens. The Jammu and Kashmir government is making payment ofRs 2 crore everyday under this scheme.

Shri Amit Shah said that the G-20 summit was successfully organized in Srinagar recently. He said that during this conference the leaders of many countries took the message of good tourism of Kashmir and the message of improved situation in Kashmir reached the whole world. Shri Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modithe government has re-implemented the Panchayati Raj system in Jammu and Kashmir. Presently, there are 32,000 newly elected Panch, Sarpanch and members of Tehsil Panchayat and District Panchayat, who are taking Jammu and Kashmir ahead on the path of development. He said that while only 4 medical colleges were built in 70 years, 9 new medical colleges and 15 nursing colleges were built in the last 9 years. Earlier there were only 500 medical seats, now 600 MBBS seats have been added to it. The number of degree colleges and engineering colleges has also been increased from 96 to 147 and IIT and IIM provided to Jammu. He said that Tirumala Tirupati DevasthanamMandir has also been inaugurated recently in Jammu and Kashmir.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by three families for many years. Due to Article 370, development could not happen in Jammu and Kashmir and 42,000 people were killed because of terrorism. But still these people say that we should keep Article 370. Shri Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Government of India has cracked down heavily on terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that by removing Article 370, Shri Modi has given the rights of reservation to hill communities, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, women and senior citizens. This justice could have been ensured byShri Modi only. Shri Shah said that during the previous government, there were 7,327 terrorist incidents in 10 years in which 2,056 civilians were killed, while in the last 9 years, with a decrease of about 70%,2,350 terrorist incidents happened in which 377 civilians were killed. He said that after the abrogation of Article 370, only 32 calls for strike and bandh were reported, while the incidents of stone pelting have also come down by 90% in the last 47 months.

Shri Amit Shah said that during the last 9 years, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has worked towards making India 5th largest economy in the world. The Government of India has formulated various policies for the development of Jammu and Kashmir including Industrial Policy, Industrial Land Allotment Policy, Private Industrial Estate Development Policy, Wool Processing, Handicraft and Handloom Policy, New Film Policy in 2021, Home Stay and House Boat Policy for Tourism. Due to these policies, the investment in Jammu and Kashmir is going up and the number of tourists is also increasing continuously. In the year 2022, a record 1.88 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir. He said that from 1947 to 2014, there was a huge shortage of jobs in the region. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Government of India has provided 28,000 government jobs to the youth, established 51,000 units of self-employment, provided livelihood to 70,000 youth under the Mission Youth and allocated an industrial package of 28,400 crore, with complete transparency .

Union Home Minister said that a new Jammu and Kashmir is being built under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Earlier, youth of the valley used to have stones in their hands, but now they have laptops. These educated youths are going to shape the future of Jammu and Kashmir and the country. This change has become possible only due to the efforts of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the last 9 years.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is on a three-day visit to United States of America. USA has bestowed the honour of the State Guest to the Prime Minister of India. The honour given to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has not been given to anyone till date. Agreements are being signed between India and USA in the field of space, defence, semiconductor, and many big companies are eager to invest in India.

Union Home Minister and Minister ofCooperation  said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in the last nine years, the government of India has started the eradication of corruption once and for all and has enhanced the country's pride. Despite opposition, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has taken progressive initiatives like removal of Article 370, construction of Ram Mandir and removal of Triple Talaq. The Prime Minister has provided many facilities to 60 crore poor people of the country, which they were waiting for last 70 years.

***

RK/AY/AKS/AY