UDHAMPUR: Union Minister and BJP Candidate for Udhampur, Doda, Kathua constituency Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Udhampur has emerged among India's top three districts in rural road construction under Central PMGSY scheme and this has been possible only because of the prioritisation given by the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 10 years.

Dr Jitendra Singh accused the Congress led governments in the past, including the UPA government from 2004 to 2014, of following a policy of regional discrimination as a result of which the upper hilly remote areas and far flung peripheral panchayats of district Udhampur remained unconnected by road because these did not receive the kind of attention deserved. As a result of this, he said, the people of this far flung region had to suffer the agony and hardship of carrying their patients and the elderly members of the family physically for movement from one place to the other or in a ‘palki. This, in turn, also led to increase in morbidity as well as mortality because of lack of healthcare facilities and lack of accessibility to health centres, he added.

Addressing a series of massive public meetings during his election tour of the upper reaches of district Udhampur including the areas like Basantgarh, Lati, Gordy, Landar, etc., Dr Jitendra Singh said, Udhampur because of its typical topography with a large part of the district located on difficult terrains this road construction work should have been undertaken several decades ago but as a deliberate design it was not done in spite of the fact that the PMGSY scheme for the rural road construction was also introduced by NDA-1 under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee but not carried forward with the same spirit by the successive governments till Prime Minister Natendra Modi took over in 2014 and Udhampur was given the top priority.

Thanking Prime Minister Modi for having given due attention to this region Dr Jitendra Singh said, today the people in the far flung areas have not only received the benefit of connectivity but this has in turn also boosted their morale and awakened their aspirations to engage in trade and business.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, significantly the lavender cultivation which for the first time in the country began from the small town of Bhaderwah in the same constituency has now been undertaken also in these areas of Udhampur district particularly Ladi and Basantgarh. This is going to be an important source of lucrative livelihood for the local youth, he said and added that the earlier governments led by Congress and its allies made false promises to the youth of giving government jobs to each individual, which he said could not have been possible. Though lavender and other means of livelihood were available in this region, but the Congress governments did not bother to explore the national resources available, he alleged.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, with ‘Kaladhi' being recognised under the category of ‘One District One Product' for Udhampur, this area in the upper hills of the district is particularly known for this recipe and will also in the years to come provide an avenue of food industry and food StartUps.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, that in the last ten years under Prime Minister Modi, Udhampur has emerged on the national map for more than one reason including the purple revolution and in the next five years it is bound to get established as an important junction and destination of North India when it also becomes the nodal point of connecting railway with the Kashmir valley and also becomes an important junction of the transport connectivity in the region.

Former Minister and MLA Pawan Gupta, BJP District President Arun Gupta, PRIs and DDC Members including Kasturi Lal Gupta, Thakur Hansraj, Jeevan Sharma, Aarti Sharma, Rakesh Bodhi, Pinky Devi, Makhan Manhas, Jagdev Singh, senior leaders Beant Gupta Mandal Presidents and others were among those who accompanied Dr Jitendra Singh in this election tour.