Independence Day was celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervour at Madar-e-Meharban Stadium Ganderbal. Thousands of people participated in the celebrations, besides senior citizens, political workers, officers of Army, police and civil administration.Minister for Agriculture Mr. Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura unfurled the National Flag and took salute on March- Past contingents comprising of JKP, JKAP, FPF, Police Training School Manigam, besides, the students of various educational institutions of the District took part in march-past.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister gave the historic back ground of freedom movement and remembered the great sons of the soil who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the nation.
Giving details of developmental scenario of the district, the Minister highlighted the initiatives and the programmes launched by the Government for the welfare of the people. He said improving basic facilities of the people remained high on the agenda of the Government.The Minister said that Rs 50 crore will be spent on the construction of District Hospital Ganderbal. He said the construction work on College of Physical Education is apace and will be completed on priority. Mr. Hanjura said that the construction work on the already identified 4000 kanals of land for Central University will be started soon. He said that the construction work on Trauma Hospital Kangan is nearing completion and will be inaugurated soon.
The Minister said that the Z-Morh project has already been taken up and the focus of the government is to complete it in a stipulated time frame so that the people of the district get benefited.Highlighting the achievements of the present Government, the Minister said that New Recruitment Policy has been formulated to fast track recruitments in Government. The Minister also said that as per the policy around 10,000 posts will be filled up in upcoming four months. He also said that Public Service Commission has been constituted with full quorum.The Minister said massive road upgradation programme including macadamization of roads has been started across the State. An amount of Rs 400 crore has been set apart for the purpose. He said under CRF, road projects costing over Rs 1000 crore have been submitted to the Government of India.
Mr. Hanjura said that a new Skill Development Policy is being framed in order to improve infrastructure in Polytechnic Colleges and ITIs for skill development.The Minister said that “My Village, My World” campaign was recently launched by Rural Development Department to ensure planned and clean villages.Recalling the achievements registered under education sector, the Minister said that schools are being converted into Model Schools with all modern tools of imparting education like smart class rooms and e-learning. He also said that two new engineering colleges will be established in the State soon. He further said that new medical colleges will be established at Baramulla, Anantnag, Doda, Kathua and Rajouri in near future.Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal, Showkat Aijaz Bhat, SP Ganderbal, Imtiyaz Ismail Parray and senior civil and police officers were present on the occasion.Later the school children presented various cultural programmes in Kashmiri, Urdu, Pahari and Pashto languages which enthralled the audience.The Minister also gave away prizes among the best adjudged schools and police contingents. He also distributed prizes among the students of the district for their outstanding performance in sports at State, National and International level.