‘Road connectivity, hospitals, drinking water to all villages in next 4 years’
By News Agency of Kashmir
Lal Draman (Doda) : Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that his government was engaged in dispersal of development activities across the State to provide equitable opportunities of progress to the deprived areas. He said the development strategy formulated by the State government in tandem with the Centre was focused on extending basic amenities to remote villages that lagged behind in matters of development.
The Chief Minister was addressing a large public meeting at this picturesque place sitting atop a mountain at 8100 ft height and surrounded by lofty snow clad peaks. Enthusiastic people- men and women, young and old-braving chill had come from nearby villages and had trekked several miles to reach the venue of the public meeting.
Azad said that his government had taken short term and medium term measures to take the development process to all areas with focus on hitherto neglected villages and habitations. He said as short term measures, hospitals and schools were opened and upgraded especially in areas where these facilities were deficient or totally lacking. Under the long term measures, he said roads, power and drinking water schemes were taken up throughout the State.
The Chief Minister said that his attention was focused on providing facilities at village level so that people in far off places did not have to travel long distances for amenities like schools and hospitals. He said unlike in the previous governments, his thrust was on the development of backward and remote areas. He said there were countless villages in the State that did not have basic amenities like electricity, drinking water and roads. People, especially women, at such places suffer on account of absence of facilities and many a time patients die before reaching a distant district or sub-district hospital. Likewise, he said children had to cover long distances to attend schools. In the absence of facilities how could one expect children from these areas to compete with their counterparts in cities and towns, he asked. He said being a man from the mountains, he appreciated the problems confronting the people in far-flung areas and felt their pain and agony, adding that these circumstances were the guiding force for a new and comprehensive development strategy adopted by his government for the State.
The Chief Minister said that in the next four to five years, each village in the state would be connected by road and have school, hospital, power and drinking water facilities. He said he was working to build a Jammu & Kashmir where education was within the reach of every child and no patient died for absence of medical facility. He said his government would concentrate on removing economic and educational disparity between villages and cities. He said last year construction of 33 district and sub-district hospitals with modern facilities was started that would be completed by April this year and reduce pressure on main hospitals in the two capital cities. He said 30 out of the 40 degree colleges set up by the government during the past three and a half years were located in areas that needed the facility most. He said in the same manner, the activities of tourism development had been extended to newer areas and places to ensure equal development opportunities to people.
The Chief Minister asked the people, especially the youth to watch against political parties and leaders who sell hollow slogans and un-realizable dreams to the masses. He said slogans do not bring about development. Jammu & Kashmir, he said, had lagged behind in development because people’s attention was diverted from progress to hollow slogans. He said we need to develop an atmosphere for rapid progress and called upon people to extend their helping hand in the implementation of the development agenda of the government. He made a special reference to the situation in the neighbouring country, saying that the rulers their misled people by impracticable slogans and brought the country to the brink. He said some elements within our State also spoke in their language but see now where this politics of exploitation had taken that country. He said he was happy that the people of Jammu & Kashmir had realized the importance of development and were interested in all round progress. He said he was hopeful that during the next five years the State would emerge as one of the most developed states of the country.
Earlier, the former minister and MLA, Doda, Abdul Majid Wani highlighted the development measures initiated by the Azad-led government across the State. He said the singular contribution of the present government was to ensure equitable development of all areas and regions irrespective of political or other considerations. He said the Azad government had earned a name for being just to all regions. He spoke about his own district and said an area that had been left out in matters of development for decades was for the first time receiving focused attention with development activities taken up on a major scale.
Wani highlighted problems faced by people in this hilly area and requested the Chief Minister to consider their early redress. He put forward some development demands on behalf of the local people in response of which the Chief Minister assured sympathetic consideration.