Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today dedicated a 120 feet tall National Flag to the nation at Pulwama.
The Lt Governor unfurled the tricolour and received the Guard of Honour at Mini Secretariat, Pulwama.
Tricolour is the symbol of One Nation, One Emotion, One Identity. It is the honour & pride of our great nation, is the reflection of dreams of our forefathers and the aspirations of our youth, the Lt Governor said.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor laid foundation stone for various youth-oriented projects in the district worth Rs 9.11 crores, including District Youth Centre costing rupees four crores, District Youth Library at a cost of rupees two crores, and Counselling Centre for Competitive Examinations costing rupees one crore under Youth Engagement Programme of Mission Youth; Establishment of rural BPO and ITES Academy under TSP worth rupees two crores and construction of Youth Club cum Coffee Shop and Public Park at Nikas Pulwama costing Rs 11.63 lakhs.
The Lt Governor said that the new initiatives are aimed to empower the youth, enable self-development, sharpen skills and help them to realize their dreams.
The District Youth Center will provide modern facilities for sports, entertainment and skilling for the youth. On completion of the District Youth Library, the local youth will get better educational support and facilities like reading space, book bank, digital library, smart classroom and discussion room, said the Lt Governor.
Empowering the youth, providing quality education and preparing them to be the future leaders is our topmost priority. The Counselling centre will act as a one-stop solution for aspirants of competitive exams conducted by UPSC & JKPSC, he added.
100 seated Rural BPO and IT Enabled Services Academy (ITES) with a 30-seat training academy is being set up in Pulwama, which will provide direct employment to young boys and girls of Pulwama district, and the training academy will create a new talent pool for the fast growing ITES sector, the Lt Governor further added.
Addressing the youth present in large numbers, the Lt Governor called upon them to follow the right path which leads to development, progress and nation building.
The younger generation must aim big. They have the ability, the power to bring revolution and transform the world. All the youth must work together to build a fear-free, corruption-free, drug-free and job-oriented J&K and take a pledge to defeat the nefarious designs of the neighboring country, said the Lt Governor.
Human resource has an important role in our Integrated Action Plan for Jammu and Kashmir, and only by developing its core capability we can create a modern society, observed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor appreciated the efforts of the Mission Youth towards youth engagement, developing creative leadership, extending handholding to thousands of youth and providing a right medium for the youth to grow and prosper.
Under the Mumkin program, 4482 young boys and girls of Jammu and Kashmir have been given mini commercial vehicles and they have also provided employment to other people, besides becoming self-reliant, noted the Lt Governor.
Financial assistance of Rs 100 crore under Tejaswini program has been provided to 3500 women to fulfill their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. The Tejaswinis have also provided employment opportunities to about 50,000 other women and men. Programs like Parwaaz, Rise Together, Super 75 are changing the lives of lakhs of youth in Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
The Lt Governor also urged the younger generation to join the efforts of the UT Government to weed out corruption from J&K. If you get any information about corrupt practices, immediately inform by sending a message to Anti-Corruption Bureau's WhatsApp number, he added.
Sh Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir; Sh Vijay Kumar, ADGP Kashmir; Sh Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, CEO Mission Youth; Sh Abdul Jabbar, DIG (DKR range); Sh Baseer-ul-Haq Chaudhary, Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, besides PRI members, senior officials of civil administration and police department and people in large numbers were present on the occasion.