Union Minister of State Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Space Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh has reaffirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi accords special priority to Jammu and Kashmir due to which its pristine glory is being restored.

He stated this while interacting with representatives of Trade, Commerce, Industry, Tourism, Hotels, Houseboats, Shikaras, Transport and other stakeholders at SKICC here today. The interaction was a part of the Government of India’s Public Outreach Programme for Jammu and Kashmir.

The Minister said that PM Modi himself takes keen interest in the matters and issues related to J&K and monitors every project himself as the region is close to his heart.

While responding to the issues, problems and grievances of the representatives of different trade bodies, Dr Singh assured them that all the genuine issues would be addressed on priority basis.

“Among your issues, there are numerous things which are doable and I assure you that all those issues would be resolved as soon as possible,” Dr Singh said.

He said that the present government led by PM Narendra Modi is prompt and responsive which are the hallmarks and an important parameter of a responsible government.

Dr Singh said that several steps have been taken to promote Jammu and Kashmir on the tourism front and in this regard, J&K Film Policy has been introduced to attract filmmakers which will help to boost the tourism of the Union Territory. Besides, he said that Kashmir will be connected to the rest of India by rail next year which will be a game-changer for the region’s tourism sector as well as for generating employment.

Representatives of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industries, FCIK, Kashmir Economic Alliance, Restaurants & Hajj and Umrah Association, Artisans Rehabilitation Forum, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation, J&K Hotels and Restaurants Association, Houseboat Owners Association, Hoteliers Club among others met Dr Singh. The representatives put forth issues related to their sectors before the Minister and sought redressal of the same.

Earlier, the Minister visited Supervisory Control And Data Audit (SCADA) Data Center at Bemina to review the functioning of the center.

The Minister was briefed about the SCADA Center and its features and progress of works under the project in twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu of the Union Territory.

On the occasion, the Minister was given a live demonstration of the different feeders, exhibition locater etc wherein he enquired about the network and security of the system. He was informed that SCADA has the highest level of security in place and reduces lot of outages.

He said that the twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu are among 59 Indian cities selected for this state-of-the-art power supply and fault redressal facility.

“The facility is cost-effective, saves time, minimises public inconvenience, saves human resources and reduces human interface in the power sector,” Dr Singh said.

Dr Singh also inspected the e-Costumer Care Center which functions round-the-clock to cater to people's complaints related to the power system. He also interacted with the staff of the Centre and enquired about the complaints and the duration of disposal of such complaints. 

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