The 69th Independence Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervor across district Rajouri.Minister for Education, Naeem Akhtar unfurled the National flag and took salute at the march past of contingents drawn from CRPF, J&K Armed Police, J&K Executive Police, Lady Police, J&K Forest Protection Force, Voluntary Home Guards, NCC, and students from various educational institutions at an impressive function held at District Police Lines, Rajouri.Extending Independence Day greetings to the people present, the Minister said this day is for our martyrs and the nation owes gratitude to those great souls who secured freedom for the country.
Among others present on the occasion were MLA Rajouri, Qamar Hussain Chaudhary, MLC, Vibodh Gupta, Vice Chairperson Pahari Advisory Board Kuldeep Raj Gupta DIG Rajouri- Poonch Range Ashok Attri, District Development Commissioner Rajouri, Deepti Uppal, SSP Rajouri Haseeb Mughal and district officers from various departments and officials from civil, army, CRPF, and police.Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to revive talks with Pakistan, Akhtar said development in the Russian city of Ufa was a vindication of PDP's viewpoint which constitutes one of the important aspects for its agenda for alliance with the BJP. He said that coalition government led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed believes that peace is very important for setting the developmental wheel into motion and it is putting every effort to ensure the same. He said that our government wants to bring such development that cannot be reversed.
Calling the alliance a paradigm shift in Kashmir’s political history, Akhtar said the vision behind forming Government with BJP is to give respect to the mandate of people who have shown faith in PDP and consequently form a government which is inclusive and takes into account the interests of all the three distinct regions viz Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh, and resolve the regional differences so that strong internal integrity could be achieved.Urging people to be active in the process of governance, Akhtar said that the government schools are run on taxes paid by them, so it becomes their prime duty to ensure that their money is put to best possible use. He said that education is fundamental to progress and if the State wants to progress in other fields, it has to excel in education.Enumerating various reforms brought in the education sector viz. merging of schools with lesser enrolment, screening of the degrees of ReTs, introduction of teacher-friendly transfer policy, Akhtar said a beginning towards change has been made and tangible results shall be accrued in the coming months."As Chairman of District Development Board, Rajouri, I have an emotional bonding with this district ", Akhtar said and added that he will ensure that all efforts are put in to resolve the infrastructural issues hindering decisions taken in district development board meeting, like setting up of model health centre and model school in each constituency and establishment of Mughal Road as an alternate highway.
Referring to roads connecting Thanamandi and Shahadra Sharief areas, the Minister announced that the same would be upgraded by the end of this year.Akhtar, urged the officers of district administration to work with dedication, transparency and sincerity to serve the nation and the society.On the occasion, students of various government and private educational institutions presented scintillating cultural programme depicting rich culture, conveying the message of patriotism and national integration. At the function, Baseer ul Haq was honoured by district administration for bringing laurels to the State by qualifying the prestigious UPSC examination, five meritorious students along with Government employees were also given mementos by the Chief Guest.Meanwhile similar functions were also held at sub-district and tehsil headquarters across the district, where people including men, women and children participated in large numbers.