Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Monday said that the villages in Jammu and Kashmir were witnessing unprecedented growth and urged the officers to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals and work to make J&K developed and self-reliant.
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that unveiling the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and a Charkha installation, as a mark of tribute to the Father of the Nation on his Jayanti at the civil secretariat, the LG said, “Today, villages in J&K are witnessing unprecedented growth due to the availability of various sources of income. New entrepreneurs are starting their new innings from villages. In terms of basic facilities, the gaps between the village and the city are disappearing.”
He said that the J&K administration was committed to developing villages as centres of socio-economic growth and transforming the lives of the rural population.
“I hope our officers, inspired by Bapu’s ideas and ideals, will continue to work dedicatedly for the dignity of every citizen in the society, for equality, social justice, and for a developed and self-reliant J&K,” Sinha said.
He said that following the ideals of Gandhi, J&K in 2021-22 had established 21,640 manufacturing and service units in the villages with the help of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), employing more than 1.73 lakh.
“In the last financial year, more than 10,628 new units were installed,” the LG said.
He congratulated the J&K Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) for the installation of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and Charkha.
“Pujya Bapu always believed that the message of Charkha’s circumference is much broader than its tangible circumference,” Sinha said. “The goal of the Charkha is to serve mankind, to live without hurting others, to create an inseparable bond between the rich and the poor, capital and labour.”
He said that Charkha was used as a significant tool by Gandhi in the fight against British rule and that it was a symbol of the Swadeshi movement, self-reliance, and economic freedom.
Paying tributes to Gandhi, the LG said that his ideals were for all humanity.
He also called for collective efforts by all the stakeholders for the promotion of Swadeshi products.
”There is a need to promote city-based Self Help Groups engaged in Khadi, which has become a new fashion statement for youth,” Sinha said.
Vice Chairperson, KVIB, Hina Shafi Bhat; Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta; Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, R K Goyal; and Principal Secretary to LG, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari also paid tributes to Gandhi.