Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday asked the district dispensation to explore possibilities for identification of suitable state land, about 5 km away from IB borders, to accommodate the people of border areas of Samba district ensuring them a safe world to live in.The Union Minister was on an extensive visit to border areas of Samba district to assess the situation arisen due to recent firing from Pakistan.Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, President J&K PCC, Prof. Saifuddin Soz, Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture, Raman Bhalla, Minister of State for Health, Mr. Shabir Ahmed Khan, Member Parliament, Madan Lal Sharma besides other senior congress leaders and officers of the district administration accompanied the Union Minister.During his visit to Mawa, Suchetgarh Kullian, Chambalyal and Nanga, the Union Minister interacted with the people of these border areas to personally take stock of their problems and demands.Expressing concern over worst impact of Pak firing on education of the students, the Union Minister assured that all possibilities would be explored to keep some relaxation in qualification of such affected border students during recruitment drives. He added that he will take up this matter with the concerned authorities as early as possible. The farmers projected various issues including grave hardships in day to day agriculture activities due to cross border firing and shelling from Pakistan, special recruitment drive for youth of border areas, RBA status, settlement of issues of refugees etc.
Union Minister assured the people that all the issues raised by them would be looked into for an early redressal.Strongly condemning the ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the Union Minister said that such coward acts targeting innocent civilians would further ignite the tensions instead of solving the issues. He advocated a constructive dialogue between the countries for an amicable relationship which is in interest of both the Nations and its people.At Chamblyal, the Union Minister paid obeisance at the Baba Chamblyal Shrine and prayed for peace and prosperity in the state.Earlier, Union Minister, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad and President J&K PCC, Prof. Saifuddin Soz along with other dignitaries paid floral tributes to Late Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi on her 29th death anniversary in a function organized by the Pradesh Congress Committee at its HQ Shaheedi Chowk.Prominent among those who also paid homage to the great leader included Tara Chand- Dy. Chief Minister, Madan Lal Sharma-MP, Dharam Pal Sharma & Mangat Ram Sharma(Senior Vice Presidents PCC), Sham Lal Sharma & Raman Bhalla (Ministers), Thakur Hari Singh & Sardar Gurmukh Singh (Vice Presidents, Mula Ram, Lal Mohd. Sabir, Gulchain Singh Charak, R.S. Chib, Suman Bhagat, Yogesh Sawhney, Arvinder Singh Micky- (former Ministers) Shabir Ahmed Khan- MOS for Health, Vinod Sharma & Kanta Bhan (General Secretaries) Janak Raj Gupta Ex-MP, G.M. Saroori-MLA, Smt. Indu Pawar-MLA, Jugal Kishore Sharma-MLC, Naresh Gupta-MLC, Ch. Bashir Ahmed Naaz-Vice Chairman Gujjar Bakerwal Board, Swarn Lata-Chairperson SC Board and Kuldeep Raj Verma-Vice Chairman OBC Board.