JK must take benefit of PM’s ‘Transforming India’ mission: Dr Jitendra
Outrightly rejecting that the coalition Government in the State has failed to tackle the situation in North Kashmir district of Kupwara which has deteriorated to a great extent, the Union Minister of State in PMO with independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that the State Government is competent enough to deal with the situation.
Talking to reporters at the sidelines of a function organized in connection with holding of a Passport mela at Regional Transport Office here at Auqaf Market Gandhi Nagar today, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Union Government will provide all help and assistance to the State in dealing with the situation.
He said that the coalition is a democratically elected Government having full mandate of people and propriety.“The democratically Governments have mandate to deal with any kind of such situation ”, he added.
Dr Singh said that though Union Home Ministry is watching the situation, the role of army and police force in the State is also laudable and “we are proud of them”
In response to a question whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make any special announcement for the State during his forthcoming visit to Mata Vaishno Devi University Katra on April 19, Dr. Singh said that PM is on one day’s visit to the varsity and after attending the programme he will leave Union Capital in the afternoon. He said the Union Government has already announced a huge financial package for the State which no Government since last 60 years had announced and in addition to that Mr. Modi has already announced that the coffers of his Government have not been closed for J&K.
Earlier inaugurating the passport mela Dr Jitendra Singh said that the State of Jammu & Kashmir must take maximum benefit of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s “Transforming India” mission. India is on a journey of fast-track development under PM Modi and J&K should not allow itself to be left behind, he observed.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is a matter of satisfaction that within two years of the taking over of the Modi Government, the Passport Office at Jammu has been upgraded to the status of Regional Passport Office and a pleasant coincidence is that the first-ever Regional Passport Officer of Indian Foreign Service cadre, Vimrash Aryan posted at Jammu also happens to be a son of soil hailing from erstwhile Doda district.
With the Modi Government’s thrust on rapid development and expansion of trade within country and outside, Dr Jitendra Singh said, ease of travel will also be an essential prerequisite for the ease of business. It is a matter of satisfaction, he said, that in the last one year itself, as many as over 35,000 passports were issued from the Jammu Passport Office. The upgraded Passport Office will contribute to PM’s transforming Mission India, he added.
However, Dr Jitendra Singh suggested that the disposal time from putting in an application to the delivery of passport can be further shortened keeping in view the fact that while in some other parts of the country, the passport delivery now takes about a week to ten days, in a Centre like Jammu, it still takes at least three weeks here because of the protracted and detailed procedure of verification and intelligence clearance. He hoped that with the up gradation of office and taking over by the new lot of young leadership, speed of passport delivery will also be enhanced.
Dr Jitendra Singh also suggested that the Regional Passport Office at Jammu should open extension counters for issuing passport at remote districts like Doda. This will not only be an additional facility for the people living in those areas, but will also encourage the number of people applying for passports.
Industry in Jammu, said Dr Jitendra Singh, has often suffered from neglect and therefore, he advised the Passport Authorities to involve the trade industry leaders and representatives of civil society for wider awareness and participation. Even though there is “Visa on Arrival” facility available for more than 50 countries, the business community is yet to take full advantage of this, he added.
Earlier, Regional Passport Officer Vimrash Aryan gave a detailed resume of the new initiatives taken by the Jammu Centre.
