Baramulla: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Friday laid the foundation stone for the transit camp that would be constructed for the rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits at KhawajaBaghBaramulla.
Reiterating that Kashmiri Pandits were the part and parcel of Kashmir’s composite culture, Sonowal said that the Centre under Prime Minister NarinderModi was firm to rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits so that they would live in their homeland with peace and harmony.
“The transit camp at Baramulla is one of the key initiatives in this direction,” he said.
The transit camp at Baramulla, constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore with a cost of Rs 12 lakh on each flat, would accommodate 336 Kashmiri Pandit families.
The Baramulla district administration had earlier identified more than 45 kanalland within the municipal limits of Baramulla town at KhawajaBaghBaramulla.
Appreciating the people of Kashmir for believing in composite culture, Sonowal said, “People of Kashmir want Kashmiri Pandits to return to their homeland so that both the communities live in peace and harmony. The initiative of rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants will strengthen their belief.”
He thanked the people of Baramulla for their cooperation in executing the project.
Accompanied by top functionaries, the union minister was on a two-day visit to Baramulla district as part of Centre’s public outreach programme aimed at receiving feedback from the different stakeholders besides listening to their developmental aspirations.
On the second day of his visit, he met scores of delegations and deputations who appraised him about their demands and grievances pertaining to socio-economic development of the society.
The grievances include upgradation of basic infrastructure in AYUSH institutions and development of waterways wherever possible.
A delegation of PRIs extended gratitude to the Centre for conducting the outreach programme to hear the common masses.
Sonowal said the government development of J&K was a dream of the government.
He said that the outreach programme had been initiated by the government to know the problems of the people on the ground.
The union minister ensured that demand and grievances projected by the delegations had been taken note of and would be put up with the government at the Centre as well as with Lt Governor ManojSinha for early redress.
He congratulated the PRIs for successful establishment of the three-tier Panchayati Raj system and said that such a system of government was available to the people of J&K for the first time after independence.
Sonowal said that the Centre had been already working on various flagship programmes aimed at developing the socio-economic status of the people while a number of new schemes were also in pipeline.