Jammu and Kashmir has a development deficit of 73 years: L-G Sinha

Lieutenant governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha has said the region has a development deficit of 73 years and there would be challenges to fill the gaps, but his administration is fully prepared to deal with it, Press Trust of India reported.

He also said the aspirations and dreams of the people of Jammu and Kashmir were suppressed by “a few people” under a thoughtful strategy.

The LG made the remarks during the release of a book, titled “Tipane Kashmirchi (notes on Kashmir), untold stories”, authored by Arun Karmarkar, in Mumbai on Sunday.

“Terrorism is the real enemy of humanity. The process of uprooting the fear of terrorism is going on at a rapid pace,” he said.

Sinha said Jammu and Kashmir has a development deficit of 73 years and there would be challenges to fill the gaps, but the administration is fully prepared to deal with it.

Compared to other states, he said the budget of Jammu and Kashmir has been four to five times more in terms of per capita, yet the development that should have been done, the kind of industrialisation that should have taken place has not happened.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of basic rights. A few vested interests hampered the process of development reaching the doorsteps of the people for decades,” the LG said.

He said there is no escape from accepting the truth that deliberately, under a thoughtful strategy, the development of Jammu and Kashmir, the aspirations and dreams of people, were suppressed by a few people belonging to a certain section.

“We have taken another big step to correct the errors of history,” Sinha said, referring to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

He said on August 5, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by announcing the abrogation of Article 370, gave Jammu and Kashmir the status of a Union Territory and fully integrated it into the national mainstream.

“And the conspiracy being run by those certain classes of people against the people of Jammu and Kashmir for a long time was destroyed in an instant,” the LG said without naming anyone, but apparently referring to political parties that ruled the erstwhile state over the decades.

KW