New Delhi: Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh on Thursday stated that it was the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who gave Jammu and Kashmir the real “self-rule” by ensuring successful conduct of regular Panchayat elections and the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) polls in seven decades in November 2020.
He said, “Jammu & Kashmir was often known for slogans of “self-rule”, but the real self-rule has dawned only now and it needs to be further strengthened.”
He said that Prime Minister Modi gave highest priority to Jammu & Kashmir and the most remarkable feature of the last eight years of his rule was that he not only gave J&K several important national level projects but through personal intervention also revived many such projects which got delayed for various reasons.
He was speaking to the media after holding a luncheon meeting for DDC chairpersons, vice chairpersons and members from Jammu & Kashmir.
About 50 DDC members, chairpersons and vice chairpersons called on the Union Minister of State (independent charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (independent charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh at his residence after completing their 5-day exposure tour to Pune and Mumbai. The Minister carefully listened to their hands-on training experiences and said that Maharashtra state had one of the oldest and most successful local bodies structure in the country.
Dr Jitendra also pointed out that DDC training programmes were continuously being held in Delhi also and exposure tours were being organized to get them familiarized with the functioning of PRI bodies and committees in various states. He said that recently, Indian Institute of Public Administration conducted such a programme in coordination with Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC).
DDC chairman Jammu Bharat Bhushan, DDC chairman Udhampur Lal Chand, DDC chairman Doda Dhanaiter Singh, DDC chairman Reasi Sarv Singh Naag, DDC advocate Amit Sharma, vice chairperson Udhampur Juhi Manhas, Karan Singh Atri, DDC members Manohar Lal, Sandeep Manhas, Kewal Krishna, Balwan Singh, Romesh Chander, Rakesh Bodhi, Subhash Bhagat, Suraj Singh, were among those who attended the luncheon meeting.