Beerwah, Apr 20: The General Officer Commanding Officer of Srinagar based Chinar Corps Lt General S A Hasnain on Friday said that Army would support various developmental works on the pattern of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the  Valley.
  “Army is present mostly in remote areas of Kashmir and people living in such areas are mostly poor and we are ready to support any developmental initiative in close coordination with the civil administration as is being done by many corporate houses and other semi government organization across India under Corporate Social Responsibility,” the GOC said while addressing a gathering here in central Kashmir.
 He added that Army can support initiatives like Rural Tourism projects wherein various villages can be developed into tourist hubs and the Government of India is already supporting such initiatives through Ministry of Tourism. "Rural Tourism has a great potential in Kashmir as the important tourist places like Pahalgam, Gulmarg and other places are getting jam packed with tourists, people must start working on Rural Tourism and Army can support such an initiative by providing some sort of logistical help,” he added.
 Responding to request from Deputy Commissioner Budgam and many local Sarpanchs the GOC said that the issue related to firing range at Tosamaidan would be discussed with civil administration and he assured that before the shelling drill takes place in June the local administration and people will be taken into confidence to ensure no loss of life and property takes place
 Deputy Commissioner Budgam Muhammad Rafi while speaking on the occasion requested Gen Hasnian to open Army Goodwill School in Budgam and construct “Public Sarai” at Chararisharief .
 Gen Hasnain agreed to sanction Rs 20 lakhs for the construction of a “Sarai” at the shrine of Sheikhul Alam (RA) in Chararisharief.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST