71st Republic Day celebrated at Srinagar

Srinagar: In connection with the celebration of 71ST Republic-Day, functions were held across Kashmir Division with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervor today.
The main function was held at SK Cricket Stadium Sonwar in Srinagar where Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan unfurled national flag and took salute at the march past presented by contingents of JK Police, JKAP, ITBP, BSF, CRPF, Fire & Emergency Services, Forest Protection Force, NCC cadets and students.
Among others, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Shahid Iqbal Chowdhary, other civil and police officers and a large gathering of people attended the function.
Addressing the gathering, Advisor Khan paid rich tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar who gave this country a constitution which guarantees rights to every citizen without discrimination of caste, colour, region or religion and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for country’s sovereignty.
He said introduction of Back to Village program, a unique mechanism to register and address public grievances at people’s door step, witnessed a huge public participation and the officers of the civil administration reached out to every corner of the UT. Under the programme, he said, a number of developmental projects have been taken up, some have been completed while others are nearing completion.
To strengthen the democracy at the grassroot level and to involve people in decision making for developmental process, he said, Panchayat election were conducted across Jammu and Kashmir but the highlight of 2019 was holding of the first ever Block level Development Committee Elections.
Hailing Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for exhibiting keenness in the development and progress of Jammu and Kashmir, the Advisor said the central government has taken a slew of measures in this regard.
He said under Social Welfare sector, various initiatives have been taken including grant of old-age pension to 1,34,000 beneficiaries while 1,70,000 more beneficiaries are also being covered. While under Marriage assistance scheme, 3,200 girls were provided financial support for their marriage and the money was directly deposited in their bank accounts.
The Advisor said that to augment health services, five new medical colleges have been established in Kashmir division, taking the intake capacity to 900 seats, which was earlier 450. The step would go a long way in resolving the issue of dearth of doctors in health institutions in the Kashmir division, he added.
Advisor Khan said that government is keen to develop sports infrastructure to provide platform to youth so that they can showcase their talent at national and international level. For this purpose stadia and playfields are being developed across Jammu and Kashmir at Panchayat and district level.
In this regard, MA Stadium, Jammu has been developed of international level and Bakshi stadium, Srinagar is also being developed as world class football stadium.
He said Agriculture and Horticulture sectors, being the backbone of our economy are being developed by way of introducing various schemes including High Density Plantation and Market Intervention Scheme and the divisional administration is making every effort to address the grievances of the growers and farmers.
He said that the divisional administration reached out to the fruit growers whose orchards were damaged in the November 7 heavy snowfall. The damage assessment has been completed and the government will soon compensate the growers for their loss.
With regard to the Education sector, he said, various measures are afoot to take Jammu and Kashmir’s educational setup to such a level that no students will feel need to go outside for higher studies.
On the occasion, Advisor Khan lauded the efforts of concerned authorities for timely clearance of snow and restoration of traffic on Jammu-Srinagar national highway, thus avoiding shortage of essential commodities in the Valley. He praised the efforts of Power Development Department for quick restoration of electricity post November 7 snowfall.
He hailed the police department for maintaining peace in Jammu and Kashmir and lauded the efforts of the people who are working for peace and prosperity of the UT.
The Advisor hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his keenness in ushering Jammu and Kashmir into a new era of progress and prosperity. He said the visit of 36 Union Minister to Jammu and Kashmir was a first step in this regard. He said that these ministers besides inaugurating and laying foundation stone of various developmental projects, reached out to people and assured them of peace and prosperity.
The highlight of the even was an enthralling cultural programme organized by the Department of Information and Public Relations in collaboration with JK Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Education & Youth Services Departments.
Later, Advisor Khan awarded Basketball player, Ishrat Akhter who represented the country in Thailand recently. Awards were also given to the best cultural performance and best march past.