Minister of State for Health, Shabir Ahmad Khan today inaugurated bridges at Thanamandi and Kangodkassin Rajouri.The construction work of these bridges has been completed at a commutative cost of Rs 1.09 crore. These bridges now provide better connectivity to dozen of villages and hamlets of the area.Addressing public meetings after inauguration of these bridges, the Minister said that all- round development of border and hilly areas were receiving focused attention of the government. He said that State witnessed unprecedented development during last over four years of the Coalition government adding that focused thrust was given to improve basic amenities across the State during this period.The Health Minister said the government has flagged health sector as one of the most important sectors in the State’s development policy and attention has been focused to universalize modern healthcare facilities across the State. He said that growth and development of health sector in rural and hilly areas is one of the priority concerns of the government and development of delivery on this front would relieve the pressure on the hospitals in the cities and towns, as such, the government has highlighted this aspect as a thrust areas.
The Minister reaffirmed that being the local representative equal development of all the areas was my priority and no injustice would be done to any area of the Constituency on the developmental front. He assured the people that all their genuine developmental needs would be carry out in a phased manner. He also impressed upon the officers to solve the people’s genuine problems and developmental needs on priority.Shabir said that primary responsibility of the public representatives is to go to the people for determining and addressing their problems through Government agencies. He asked people to know their rights and seek due share in development process launched by the Government across the State.
Referring to various revolutionary initiatives taken by the government during the past four years for bringing accountability, transparency in the administration besides providing good governance to the people, and empower the people at gross root level, the minister said that Laws like Right to Information Act, Public Service Guarantee Act, holding of Panchayat elections was the land mark steps of the government.The Minister said that people fastened their hopes with public representatives and asked the Panchs and Sarpanchs to work sincerely for welfare and development of the people who gave them their self-assurances. He also called upon the District Officer to ensure their frequent visits in border and hilly areas for on the spot solution of the problems and developmental needs of the masses of these areas.