Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood will be restored after assembly elections.
In an interaction with a select group of reporters in Mumbai, Sinha said the restoration of statehood is a three-phase process.
“Union Home Minister has committed it on the floor of the Parliament that the restoration of statehood is a three-phase process. First, there will be delimitation, then the assembly election, and lastly the statehood will be restored. We have completed the delimitation. The electoral rolls too are almost complete. We are going to hold the panchayat elections soon. The Election Commission of India will take a decision on the Assembly election. The commitment made in the Parliament will be honored,” News9 Plus quoted Sinha saying.
LG said there is no stone pelting or strikes post-abrogation of Article 370. “The shops in Srinagar are open till 11 pm and people can move around safely. There had been a couple of attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, a Sikh teacher and non-Kashmiris but we have not only traced the attackers but those who provided them finance and logistics support as well. The Muharram procession was carried out in the Valley after a gap of 34 years,” he said.
Her said Centre’s rankings show that J&K is at the number one position in the ‘Meri Mati, Mera Desh’ campaign. “The tricolor is flying everywhere. There is a 300 percent incentive on GST (Goods and Services Tax) in Jammu and Kashmir. Our tax collection has gone up by 34 percent. Almost 300 films have been shot in the UT. We have five government-run and one private cinema hall. Almost 60 lakh people participated in the sports events. We don’t want to buy peace. We want to establish it,” he said.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a clear vision for Jammu and Kashmir. He wants Srinagar to be the next Davos which could be an ideal place in the world for business, economy, sports, and entertainment as well. Srinagar is as beautiful as Davos. We will work in that direction.
Sinha said they have received investment proposals of Rs 78,000 crore. “We are identifying land parcels for setting up industries. In the last year, 1.87 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir. There is a 59 percent increase in the number of foreign tourists. Our 70 percent population is dependent upon agriculture and allied services. This year, there is a bumper crop of mustard. We are no longer a fodder-deficit region. The number of daily flights arriving and departing from Jammu and Kashmir has gone up from 36 to 126 in this period. Soon, the railway line to Srinagar will be completed. After that, there will be direct rail connectivity between Kanyakumari and Srinagar,” he said.
On Kashmiri Pandits’ return to the valley, he said the process of rehabilitation started when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister. “He had announced plans to build 3,000 homes for the Pandits but only 698 were built. PM Narendra Modi has announced plans to build 6,000 houses for the community. Out of them, 800 have been already handed over. Almost all of the 3,000 posts for Kashmiri Pandits in government jobs have been filled,” he said.
