KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Friday asked people to grab the historic opportunity presented to them for bringing in lasting peace and development in the state.
He said he wants to bring down the walls of hatred between India and Pakistan as people of J&K will be the principal beneficiaries of thaw in relations between the two neighbours. “My primary goal is to take away the clouds of political uncertainty, which have hovered over the horizon of J&K for 70 long years,” he added.
The Chief Minister said this while addressing a huge public gathering after inaugurating the prestigious 10 MGD Sukhnag Water Supply Scheme today.
Asking people not to let the opportunity go waste that has come their way, the Chief Minister hailed the leadership of the State during the country’s freedom struggle, which rose above religious considerations and collectively fought the forces of imperialism. He said J&K has a special place guaranteed in the country’s Constitution, which will always be safeguarded. “Our Assembly happens to be one of the most powerful and vibrant institutions in the country,” he added.
Quoting from his slogan – “Na Grenade Se Na Goli Se, Baat Banegi Boli Se,” Mufti Sayeed said people of the State have shown the strength of ballot by voting overwhelmingly in 2014 elections. He said both India and Pakistan will have to bring down walls of distrust by talking to each other for lasting peace in the region.
Promising people to reboot the system that had become unresponsive, the Chief Minister said he will end the scourge of corruption and embed good governance so that people at the grassroots level reap the benefits of the change, which they have brought in with great hope and expectations by voting in large numbers. “I promise an era of responsive administration that guarantees succour to the people at the grassroots level,” he said.
Referring to the turmoil in countries like Syria, Yemen and Libya, the Chief Minister said no one has the right to malign the message of peace enshrined in the teachings of Islam. He said he can’t fight ideologies but will practically demonstrate how people are given rich dividends of peace in the form of development.
Describing today’s age as the age of educational excellence, Mufti Sayeed said it is not guns and bombs but human resource which will define progress of countries in future. He said he will unleash a development revolution and connect regions as he did in his first tenure between 2002 and 2005. “When Srinagar-Muzaffarbad road was opened, no one could believe their eyes. We saw history unfolding right before us,” he said, while indicating his desire to open more trade and travel routes across the Line of Control (LoC) so that it is taken beyond the ritual of meetings between divided families.
Referring to his short six-and-a-half month-old tenure, the Chief Minister said he wants to end the struggle of our educated unemployed youth who go from pillar-to-post hankering for a job. He said he has given categorical orders to expedite the recruitment so that the posts are filled up in a fair, transparent and time-bound manner. “In the private sector, we are linking education with employability by reorienting courses according to job market needs,” he stated.
Flagging communication network as government’s top priority, Mufti Sayeed said roads across the state are being upgraded by holding contractors accountable, just as was done in 2002 when new roads were laid with funds provided by Asian Development Bank.
On the law-and-order front, Mufti Sayeed said he has ordered J&K Police to exercise maximum restraint. He said action has been taken against those policemen who have violated the standing operating procedures.
Congratulating the people on commissioning of Sukhnag Water Supply scheme, the Chief Minister said more than three lakh people spread over 85 habitations will have access to potable drinking water. Our goal is to provide every person, safe drinking water on sustainable basis,” he added.
The Sukhnag Water Supply Scheme, in Budgam district, has been constructed and commissioned by Public Health Engineering Department at a cost of Rs 121 cCrore. The funds for the project were sanctioned under JnNURM (Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission), a Government of India project that was sanctioned in 2008.
The scheme will cover over three lakh people in 85 habitations in Zone IV of Greater Srinagar through urban service reservoirs and main service reservoirs in areas which include Nasrullahpora, Reshipora, Humhama, Jeelanabad, HMT, Zainakote, Narakara, Gurteng, Parthan, Watrihail, Putlibagh and Aalipora.
