Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke on the Kashmiri Pandit issue at a rally in Jammu’s Vijaypur.

The PM, who wore a traditional Dogra saffron turban, also laid the foundation stones of and inaugurated a series of projects worth Rs 35,000 crore for the development of the region.

“Aaj main bahut hi mehtvapoorn vishay pe baat karna chahta hoon aur wo vishay hai Kashmiri Pandit. Kendra sarkar unke adhikar, samman or gaurav ke liye pratibadh hai. Unhe hinsa or aatankwaad ke jis daur mein apna ghar chhodna pada, vo Hindustan kabhi nahi bhool sakta (I want to discuss a very serious topic today, which is the issue of Kashmiri Pandits. The Central government will dedicatedly work for their rights, honour and pride. The era of violence and terrorism during which they had to flee their homes cannot be forgotten by India),” the PM said.

Commenting on the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the PM said that his government is fulfilling its promise made to those who were once part of Bharat but were forced to separate from us due to the circumstances that led to the Partition in 1947.

He also assured the people of Jammu that the his government will always stand with the families of every martyr.

“I assure the families of martyrs that the government will always stand with you at every step. All possible measures are being taken for the safety of the families facing firing from across the border,” the PM said, adding, “On the one hand we are responding effectively to the enemy’s bullet, on the other hand we are constructing 14,000 bunkers at the border for the safety of all of you.”

Slamming the Congress, the PM said that their pledge to waive farmers’ debts is “hollow”.

Modi added: “The Congress party’s promise of debt waiver to farmers is hollow. In 2008, the remote-controlled Congress government spoke of waiving Rs 6 lakh crore debt of farmers. Once in power, the Congress waived off only Rs 52,000 crore. And among those who got the waiver were those who were not entitled to it.”

“They are again speaking of debt waiver to farmers. They have come to power in Madhya Pradesh promising debt waiver. You will be surprised to know that a debt waiver of just Rs 13 has been given to each farmer in the state,” Modi said.

“Similarly, in Rajasthan, even if they honestly fulfill their debt waiver promise, they won’t benefit more than 20 per cent of the people.”

Modi said that the Congress has been filling the pockets of middlemen in the name of farm loan waiver.

Praising the Interim Budget presented in Parliament on 1 February, the PM said that it is designed to help farmers as well as people from all sections of the society.

“Over 12 crore families of farmers who have just two hectares of land will now get an annual direct bank transfer of Rs 6,000. This amount shall be credited to their bank accounts in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000,” he said referring to the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

The Prime Minister said when Finance Minister Piyush Goyal was reading out the budget proposals in Parliament, “the faces of Congress leaders turned pale”.

Modi said the 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational sectors for economically weak members of general category will benefit the youth of Kashmir, too.

The Prime Minister on Sunday laid the foundation stone for AIIMS, IIM, IIT, Jammu-Akhnoor road, Shahpur-Kandi road, Sunderbani college and IIMC in Jammu.

A MoU signed between the NHPC and J&K Power development Corp to build a 850MW hydro electric power project was exchanged in the presence of the Prime Minister.

The PM arrived in Jammu after laying the foundation stones of a series of projects for Leh in Ladakh.

Read More: PM Modi launches major projects in Leh, praises people of Ladakh for their valour

He will also be launching projects in Kashmir region of the state.