The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu Kashmir Manoj Sinha in an interview with India today said that the elections in Jammu Kashmir will be held after the Delimitation Commission completes its work.
Manoj Sinha spoke on a wide range of issues concerning Jammu Kashmir- from the ongoing delimitation exercise to the demand for restoration of statehood to the security situation. Excerpts from the interview:
Manoj Sinha said that stateood will be restored at an appropriate time.
Responding to a question that the Census is being held in other parts of the country in 2021 and to hold delimitation only after that is complete, Manoj Sinha said, “In the Reorganisation Act, the number of seats in the assembly has changed. How will it be divided? There are two very clear issues in the Delimitation Act – the population in the last Census and the compact constituency. These are its two main pillars.
Responding to the restoration of Article 370, Manoj Sinha said, “One should wait for the final judgment of the Supreme Court. You will find several rulings by the Supreme Court. if a matter is sub judice, it is unconstitutional and illegal to create an atmosphere in favour or against it among the public.”
He also said that there is no political person is a prisoner now. There are two categories of detention. Category A: political persons. Category B: those booked under certain laws like CrPC, IPC, for terror funding or militancy. How can Category B people be released? Despite this, we formed a committee on the instructions of the home minister. The principal secretary (home) is heading the committee and will look into the matter on a case-by-case basis.
Manoj Sinha said more work has been done in the last two years than what has happened in the past 70 years.
“A project in Sawalkot could not be completed in 35 years – that’s the achievement of those talking about development. We have completed over 1,100 languishing projects. We have introduced such transparency that no project can proceed without administrative approval, technical sanction, financial approval and e-tendering. We have put an end to that racket. Now, all work is geo-tagged, physically verified and put in the public domain to let the people decide whether or not work is getting done properly,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
He said that the administration is granting incentives worth Rs 28,400 crore to industry. We are giving 300 per cent incentive on GST. We already have proposals worth Rs 20,000 crore. With the proposals that are coming forward, I have no doubt that the coming two years will see investment worth Rs 30,000-35,000 crore, with job opportunities for 500,000-600,000 people.
“The industrial policy came only three or four months ago. Since then, we have been engaged in managing the Covid situation. Let us meet three months down the line, and I will show you investment and projects worth at least Rs 20,000 crore. I’ll show you the work has started on the ground,” he said.
He reiterated that Jammu Kashmir is very close to the prime minister’s heart. “I have been regularly meeting him on Jammu Kashmir matters. What is being seen here is mostly the contribution of the prime minister. Whenever I meet him, he asks whether a certain highway has been built, whether a certain tunnel is ready, whether funds meant for the DDCs have been transferred.”
There is no such fear in the minds of the people about losing jobs to outsiders, barring a few, he said.
As far as industry is concerned, if anyone wants to build a hotel, we will provide them with land. If anyone wants to build a hospital, we will give them land. If Fortis, Medanta or any good super-specialty hospital comes here, we will provide them with land. Besides, the land laws here mandate a J&K…