Minister for Medical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Taj Mohi ud Din today said the border town of Uri has seen a turnaround during last decade and the day is not far when cent per cent achievement would be recorded in critical sectors like power distribution, water supply, education and healthcare.Addressing a well-attended public meeting here today, the Minister said these are not mere slogans or rhetorics but the factual details available on the ground.Elaborating, Mr. Taj said it was during his tenure that Uri got the first college, three higher secondary schools and 16 high schools. He said the number of middle schools, which stood at 26 before his representing the area, rose to 95. Similarly 200 more primary schools were opened in the area taking the number to 270.The Minister said there were 109 ICDS centres in Uri in 2002 which stand at 455 with the spread of nutritional programme in every nook and corner of the constituency. So was the case, he said, with health centres which rose from 03 to 12 during this period.Mr. Taj said there were no filtration plants or lift irrigation schemes in Uri and 46 such filtration plants and seven lift irrigation schemes were set up during the last decade or so. He said the road length in Uri stood at 75 kilometres in 2002 which has been increased to a whopping 500 kilometres or more as more and more areas and habitations are being covered through road networks.
The Minister said that water supply distribution in Uri, which was 26 % ten years ago, has risen to 97 %, among the highest in the State. So is the case with power distribution, he said, which has risen from 34 % in 2002 to 85%. He said soon cent per cent coverage in water and power distribution would achieved in the town.Asking people to stand guard these achievements, the Minister said they should look through the designs of vested interest elements who have no sympathy with them and are in fact harming their interests.Mr. Taj said with this pace, Uri and its inhabitants have a right to look for a better future for which he has many big plans. He asked people to remain united and extend a helping hand to him to completing these plans and projects.Former MLC, Mr. Muhammad Amin Bhat, Mir Mushtaq, S S Chani and Mr. Mushtaq Khanday also addressed the public meeting.