New Delhi, Sep 01: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh on Friday said that in the last over nine years, the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended discrimination against people living in border areas and ensured justice to all. He accused the earlier governments at the Centre and Jammu & Kashmir of deciding their priorities on vote bank consideration,
Interacting with a delegation of Seema Jagran Manch that called on him, Dr Jitendra said, “The blatant discrimination by the Congress-National Conference government was evident from its decision to provide 4% reservation in higher education institutions and jobs to those living along the LoC but denying the same to those living along the International Border (IB), mostly along Kathua and Samba districts. This was done because Congress-NC thought they had more votes to gain from areas along LoC while people living along IB were inclined towards BJP. What could be the worst example of inhuman discrimination between one section of youth and the other, between one part of the border and the other?”
It was only after PM Modi took over, that this anomaly was corrected and youth along the IB were also given the same benefit, the minister, who is also the Lok Sabha MP representing Kathua-Udhampur-Doda, said.
The union minister said Prime Minister Modi will go down in history for bringing justice to the Pakistan refugees settled in J&K who were deprived of their constitutional rights of citizenship and owning property. “Even as two of them, Dr Manmohan Singh and IK Gujral went on to become Prime Ministers, the refugees settled in J&K were not even given voting rights because there was apprehension that they may not vote for Congress and National Conference,” he said, adding, “West-Pak refugees have also been sanctioned Rs 5 lakh per family.”
Dr Singh said the Central government approved funds for the construction of 13,029 individual bunkers with a capacity of 8 persons each and 1,431 community bunkers with a capacity of 40 persons each in the border areas of J&K.
He said that development has been brought to the last man in the last queue under PM Modi. “The border areas which were neglected earlier have now become the models of development, the best example being the border district Kathua which is now being cited as an example of unprecedented development which was never seen before,” he said.
