Govt working on war-footing to deal with rising terror incidents in Jammu division: Jitendra Singh

Jammu, July 13: Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh Saturday stated that all possible steps were being taken to deal with rising terror incidents in Jammu region in order to restore people’s confidence and public order.

He stated that these steps would bear fruit soon and normalcy would return within a week.

Singh, who is also the Union Minister of State (independent charge) Science & Technology besides being MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, stated this after holding nearly a three-hour public durbar in Kathua.

During the Darbar, he heard various citizens’ delegations with an objective to ensure on-the-spot resolution of their grievances and demands with the Deputy Commissioner and other senior officials of the administration.

While warning the local terror facilitators of stern action, the Union Minister urged the society to remain vigilant and join the government’s efforts to deal with the menace of terrorism in the region. He said the VDCs were being strengthened to fight terrorists.

“There will not be any compromise in dealing with illegal crushers, illegal mining, illegal land encroachers and drug peddlers,” he said.

“Nobody has a right to indulge in illegal mining and erode the foundations of our precious bridges like Keediyan Gandyal. Similarly, nobody has the right to earn ill-gotten wealth by turning others’ children into drug addicts. Tomorrow their children may also fall prey to such addiction,” he said.

The minister stated that illegal mining and drug abuse was a vicious cycle which facilitated terrorism and other social evils.

“Exemplary and punitive action will be taken against those indulging in these crimes, irrespective of their political affiliations or so-called influence,” he warned. He stated that the local administration acted against 25 illegal crushers and a fresh list of nearly a dozen of such crushers was being prepared to take strict action against them as per the law.

He flagged the increasing incidents of cattle smuggling in the area, vowing to deal with the crime with an iron hand. The Union Minister rued that the drug menace spread its tentacles from Punjab to Katra, bringing infamy to the holy city.

He urged the local citizens to wean away their wards from the menace in order to secure their future. The Union Minister also drew attention to the problem of land encroachment and warned that no one would be spared if found guilty of the crime.

He stated that the journey of development undertaken by the Modi government transformed the landscape of the Udhampur-Kathua-Doda Parliamentary constituency in the last ten years.

“Milestones of development can be seen at every two kilometers of the constituency,” he said.

Singh recalled that North India’s first bio-tech park, a seed processing plant, over a dozen bridges, including the iconic Atal Setu, had come up in this constituency. The Union Minister said the last decade of the Modi government was dedicated to overcoming shortcomings of the previous regimes. “Now, the government is focused on consolidating the gains of the past decade in its fresh term,” he pledged.