Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said today that the opposition leaders are taking benefit of the development brought about in the last six years, but they are not acknowledging it. He said, for example, they are driving on the roads constructed in the last six years and also availing of universal Health Insurance cover through the Ayushman scheme, but are constrained to kill their conscience to say that nothing has happened. During the District Development Council election campaign in different locations in the Majalta Tehsil of Ramnagar and in Billawar, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressed a series of public meetings including the one in remote Motu Panchayat where he addressed the first ever public meeting by any MP since independence. He said, when he got elected as MP, there was no motorable road to reach this place and therefore the elected representatives from the area seldom visited here, but in the last six years we have taken up the responsibility of laying down road network, one by one, to all the unconnected spots, as a result of which, today we have for the first time a motorable road to Motu Panchayat in Tehsil Majalta and as an MP he feels privileged to be amongst the first to drive to this place by this road. Citing numerous instances, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, nearby Atal Setu inaugurated by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is the first bridge of its kind in North India and all the opposition leaders take pleasure in driving through it but at the same time they say that they have never seen it. Similarly, he said, there is not a single leader from Congress or National Conference who does not use the Chenani-Nashri tunnel while driving from Jammu to Srinagar but when they come out of the tunnel and if a media person asks them about the development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they shamefacedly say that they have not seen the tunnel. Accusing the earlier governments of depriving the people of Jammu & Kashmir of three-tier local body system and not holding DDC elections, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the objective behind this was the selfish interest of the Congress, National Conference and PDP leaders, who wanted the entire authority to be centralised with them so that they could embezzle and misappropriate all the funds coming from the Centre. Dr. Jitendra Singh said, with the introduction of 73rd and 74th Amendments and setting up of District Development Councils, there will be a multi-tier mechanism for addressing the demands and grievances of local people at different levels, promptly and with accountability. He said, local body representatives are going to be the part of the new leadership for Jammu & Kashmir.
