Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, on Tuesday, said Narender Modi’s eight years as Prime Minister gave India a vision for 2047 and laid the roadmap for the next 25 years of Amrit Kal which would witness the ascent of India to emerge as the front rank nation.
Addressing the mammoth ‘Jan Kalyan’ public rally organised by the BJP at Kathua, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “These eight years witnessed unprecedented development and growth, but what is often not discussed is the subtle rise of self-esteem in the common Indian as well as reinforcement of self-confidence in the BJP Karyakarta (worker).”
The BJP Karyakarta in Jammu & Kashmir, he said was often humiliated by the then ruling parties like the National Conference and Congress. The sea change that has happened in the last eight years is reflected in the manner in which so many of the non-BJP leaders are today ready to join the BJP and become a part of the development journey of India led by Modi, he added.
He said there were times in Jammu & Kashmir when a BJP Karyakarta would not even find entry into the Civil Secretariat and had to run from pillar to post simply to get an entry pass into the secretariat premises.
From the point of view of a common man, these eight years, since 2014, Dr. Jitendra Singh said have been a journey from pessimism to optimism and from hopelessness to hope. There were times when Indian youth going abroad were sometimes shy of disclosing their identity whereas today they are not only held in high esteem but also preferred for professional jobs and StartUp initiatives by their western counterparts.
While releasing a pamphlet enumerating 75 major development works and initiatives during the last eight years in the Lok Sabha constituency of Udhampur-Kathua-Doda, Dr Jitendra Singh said if one startup from entry at Lakhanpur, one would come across a monument of development after every 2 or 3 km which were set up in the last years.
These, he said, include Keediyan-Gandiyal bridge, Maharaja Gulab Singh’s Statue, Seed-processing plant, Biotech Industrial Park, highway village, Centrally funded engineering college, Kendriya Vidyala, Juthana bridge, above 200 bridges including, Udhampur river Devika project, Bhaderwah higher altitude Medicine Institute, Kishtwar airport, Chenani Nashville tunnel, Atal setu, Express road corridor from Katra to Delhi, etc. In addition, there have been about 200 bridges and at least 3 new national highways.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the first of its kind Kathua’s Birla Park has been set up about 3 years back is rated better than the Green Belt Park in Gandhi Nagar Jammu. This is possibly the only Lok Sabha Constituency in which three Central government-funded Medical Colleges were set up within four years, he added.