Rajnath Singh held a meet to review the implementation of the 80,000-crore package for Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir has received a nearly a quarter of the Rs 80,000 crore relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government officials have said. Three days after he met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today took stock of the Central funds released for the state.
In November 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the Rs 80,000 crore package. At the time, the state was grappling with the huge damage done by the flood just seven months before. A chunk of the package, over Rs 42,000 crore, was earmarked for infrastructure development in the state. The state was meant for flood relief, health, agriculture and developmental activities.
In her meeting with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister earlier this week, Ms Mufti had underscored the importance of the healing touch in Kashmir Valley.
She had invoked Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose approach of "Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and Jamhooriyat" is still fondly remembered by the people of state. Insisting that the way forward lies only in dialogue, she had said, "There is a need to start building from what Vajpayee had achieved".
Since last year, Kashmir has been overwhelmed by protests and violence that started with the death of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani. Thousands had been injured in clashes with security forces in the five-month protests that had followed.
On April 9, unprecedented violence had taken place during the by-elections to the parliamentary seat of Srinagar, in which 8 people had died. Amid the protests and anger, the by-poll for the Anantnag parliamentary seat had been put off. The unrest spread to campuses, where women and teens in uniforms have joined the protesters.