Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): Union Minister of State for Home GK Reddy today said that Ladakh is one of the top most priorities of the Central Government and announced that two smart cities will soon be coming up in the Union Territory, besides 5,000 jobs for the youth on a fast track basis.
Reddy made the announcement while addressing a press conference in Ladakh where he is camping for the past few days as part of the poll campaigning for the crucial Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) elections. The LAHDC polls are scheduled for October 22. LAHDC is the highest seat of power in the cold desert.
“We have a plan to fill 5,000 vacancies in police, administration and other government departments soon. So 5,000 youths of the UT will get jobs,” Reddy said.
The Union MoS for Home said that Ladakh has a huge potential for power generation and the Government of India has identified projects that will generate 7,500 MWs of electricity in the Union Territory.
“The power projects will serve the local population and will help farmers, industries,” Reddy said. He urged people of Ladakh to support BJP candidates in the LAHDC polls. “We gave UT status to Ladakh to take it to the new heights of development that include, power, telecommunication, road, air connectivity along with education and health connectivity. All these sectors are being upgraded,” he said.
The MoS said that Ladakh has great potential to serve as the best tourist destination. “We are exploring Ladakh’s tourist potential in a best way to boost its economy,” he said.
He also talked about the Zojila tunnel on which the work has been started after the first virtual blasting by Union Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently. Reddy said that the long pending demand of the Zojila Tunnel has been fulfilled and it will be Asia’s biggest tunnel that will reduce travel time and shall operate throughout the year.
Reddy who is minister in-charge for Lakdah, said that two cities in the UT will be developed as smart cities, and development and air connectivity will be ensured to give the tourism sector here a boost.
Slamming Pakistan and China, Reddy said that they have no right to talk about India’s internal matters and Ladakh’s UT status.
“At the same time, the parties like Congress, PDP and NC are following the anti-national line by speaking the same language as that of China and Pakistan, which is unfortunate,” he said.
-ARK
