President Ram Nath Kovind addresses Parliament during the Budget Session 2022, in New Delhi. Along with it, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla are also seen.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday said that the Narendra Modi government has taken several important steps to provide better opportunities for education, health and employment to the “so far neglected” people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Addressing a joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament at the beginning of the budget session, Kovind said the Centre’s resolve of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” in the ‘elixir of independence’ is enabling the country. To write a new chapter of development based on democratic values and now it is making special efforts for the states and territories “so far neglected”.
“The beginning of a new era of development in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region is a great example of this,” he said. The President said that the government has launched a new Central Sector Scheme for industrial development of Jammu and Kashmir at a cost of about Rs 28,000 crore.
Last year, the Qazigund-Banihal tunnel was opened for traffic and international flights between Srinagar and Sharjah have also started, he said.
“Several important steps have also been taken to provide better opportunities for education, health and employment to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Kovind said. He said that at present, work is underway on seven medical colleges and two All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) – one in Jammu and the other in Kashmir. The construction of IIT, Jammu and IIM, Jammu is also going on in full swing.
Kovind said that the Indus Infrastructure Development Corporation has been set up to accelerate infrastructure and economic development in the Union Territory of Ladakh. He said that another chapter is being added in this development journey of Ladakh in the form of Indus Central University.
Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was scrapped on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Both the Union Territories are currently under central governance.
Read also | Delhi airport now allows only one bag as cabin baggage for domestic passengers. check exceptions
,