Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology, Choudhary Lal Singh today said that Government is aiming to improve urban and rural connectivity on fast track mode.The Minister was speaking at 68th Republic Day celebration held at Government Higher Secondary School, Hatli , Zone Lakhanpur of Kathua.The minister said that Kathua district which has diverse topography have many developmental constraints due to its hilly and far off reach but the state Government is working in a coherent manner to bring not only Kathua but the entire region in the path of development.Referring to various initiatives taken for improving the connectivity in and around Hatli, the minister said that a total of Rs 43 crore will be spent on developing road from Hatli to Dukht and onwards. He further added that in his constituency Basohli every village will get road link under PMGSY as the road connectivity is directly linked to economic uplift of the society.
Highlighting the importance of modern education in overall development of the personality of students, Singh said that 45 lakh rupees will be spent on converting Higher Secondary School Hatli into a Model school having all the modern facilities for academics as well as physical education. He also stated that within a short span of time the Govt. educational institutes will have infrastructure which will evince their private counterparts and appealed the teachers to rise to the occasion and impart knowledge as per the required standard.The minister also announced Rs 5 lakh from his CDF for the construction of additional class rooms and directed SSP Kathua to ensure that every working day 2 buses will leave from Kathua to Hatli at 9 AM for the convenience of students, teachers and other working people. Impressive cultural items depicting patriotic themes were also presented by students of various institutions. Singh also presented Trophies; certificates to the best performers on the occasion.
Earlier, the minister inaugurated the ICT Lab at the School Hatli and urged the students to take maximum benefit of this facility as the knowledge of all sorts is only a click away in such an internet connected Lab. He also inaugurated the boundary wall of Government High School, Lakhanpur and told that the school will be soon developed as a Model school and announced Rs 5 lakh from his CDF for constructing additional class rooms and directed DFO Kathua to plant ornamental and shady trees along the boundary wall of the school.Among others Director Social Forestry B M Sharma, Member Secretary PCB Sameer Bharti, Director Remote Sensing O P Sharma, ADC Kathua Dr Bharat Bhushan , SSP Kathua Pawan Parihar, CCF Jammu Roshan Jaggi, CEO Kathua Balbir Singh , ACD , BDO and XEN PWD were present.