By IANS
Jammu : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday laid the foundation stone for a satellite township for displaced Kashmiri Hindus living here.
Manmohan Singh laid the foundation at Jagti in the suburbs of Jammu. Kashmiri Pandits have been living largely in the area since they fled the Kashmir Valley after a separatist campaign began there in 1989.
Over 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits have been putting up in tented colonies and one-room tenements. The prime minister had promised a township for them, with better civic amenities, during his first visit to Jammu in November 2004.
Soon after the ceremony, Singh flew to Jammu University campus where he would receive an honorary degree Doctor of Letters (D.Litt). Governor S.K. Sinha, who is the university chancellor, will confer the doctorate.
“It is going to be a proud moment for us,” said Vice Chancellor Amitabh Mattoo.
Manmohan Singh has been the recipient of honorary doctorates from numerous universities in India and abroad, including D. Litt from Panjab University, Guru Nanak University, Delhi University, Sri Venkateshwara University, Panjabi University, Osmania University and Italy’s University of Bologna.