Like other parts country and state, the 65th Republic Day was celebrated in Sports Stadium Doda today with great enthusiasm and fervour, Minister for PWD (R&B) and Mechanical Engineering Abdul Majid Wani was the chief guest on the occasion who unfurled the tricolour and took salute of the March past contingents of JKP,JKAP, CRPF, FPF, SSB, NCC and School Children.While addressing the gathering on the eve of 65th Republic Day, Mr. Wani reiterated the commitment of the Coalition Government for holistic and all round development of the state , economically as well as socially. Mr. Wani remembered the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters during the freedom struggle of the country. He also counted the sacrifices made by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and Paramilitary forces in maintaining peace and brotherhood in the state.
Wani cautioned the people of the region to remain vigilant against the anti-social and anti-national forces that are bent upon to disturb the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere of the region. He said peace and prosperity is required for the growth and development of the region, He appreciated the people of the area for maintaining age old tradition of brotherhood and communal harmony.Mr. Wani also highlighted the importance of employment generation avenues and programmes in the region. He said as Erstwhile District Doda is endowed with vast natural resources and various Hydel Power Projects are in pipeline for which we need to build the technical and resource base of our Young and Unemployed Generation so that we could be independent to operate and operationalize our Power Projects. He also said that all the Industrial Training Institutions (ITI’s) and other Technical Training Institutions must have to Job Oriented Engineering and other courses so that we could get a better Technical and Resource based youth within our state that would help in inimizing unemployment and boost the socio-economic status of the state and region.
Underlining the importance of tourism sector in growth and development of the area , Mr. Wani said that with completion of work on Bhaderwah –Bani –Basholi inter District road, Bhaderwah -Chamba Interstate road and Doda-Kapran inter District road, Singpora-Vialoo Tunnel, besides others a flood of tourists both national as well as international tourists come into this region and help to boost socio-economic condition of tourism and allied sectors.Later on a colourful cultural programme was presented by the school children and artists of Culture Academy Doda which exhibited the rich cultural and traditional heritage of the region. Mr. Wani also distributed prizes among the participants on the occasion.District Development Commissioner Doda Mr. Mubarak Singh, SSP Doda Mr. M.S Chouhan, ADDC Doda Mr. G.N Balwan, ADC Doda Mr. Imam Din, ACR Mr. Niraj Kumar, besides CO 10 RR, Commandant CRPF, SSB, and other District officers , sarpanches, media persons, ex-servicemen, and a huge gathering of people attended the function.Similar celebrations were also held at Tehsil Headquarter Bhaderwah, where SDM Bhaderwah Mr. Bhupinder Kumar unfurled the tricolour and took salute of the march past contingents.