Claiming that the BJP stepped down from power in the former Jammu and Kashmir state, which he shared with the PDP on the issue of the Panchayat elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme at J&K said that a new chapter for a The New Decade had been written at UT after the conclusion of the recently conducted DDC surveys.
“We were part of the government in Jammu and Kashmir, but we left it on the issue of the Panchayat elections. [which were being delayed]. That’s why we left the government and hit the road with ordinary people, ”Modi said when inaugurating the public health insurance plan on Saturday.
“With the conclusion of the DDC polls, we have realized Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Gram Swaraj’ dream of a three-tier grassroots democracy [of block, panchayat and district councils]. I followed each phase of the election and saw how despite the severe cold, despite the pandemic, young people, old people and women came out to vote. I saw in his eyes the dream of leaving his past behind and hoping for a better future. Jammu and Kashmir have strengthened the roots of democracy, ”Modi said while congratulating Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and his team for conducting peaceful elections.
The prime minister also attacked Congress, without naming it, for delaying elections for local bodies in Puducherry.
“There are people in Delhi who keep attacking me, trying to teach me the values of democracy, but despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 seeking polls from local bodies in UT, the same people have so far prevented me from elections are held there. They don’t trust democracy, ”Modi alleged.
The Prime Minister said that ongoing development work at UT was based on the “three mantras” of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, “Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat”.
Modi recounted various development works that have taken place at J&K in recent months, such as the development of almost 800 wellness centers, benefits for more than 1 lakh of people who availed of health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh through the health insurance plan, buying nearly 12 lakh metric tons from valley apple growers.
The Prime Minister also said that in the next two to three years the UT rail network will be connected to the network in the rest of the country. In the same period of time, he added, the administration was trying to extend running water to all UT houses.
