Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a new wave of development

Dubai - The government is committed to generating more employment and reservation has been introduced in government jobs for local youths.

Often christened as "Paradise on Earth," Jammu and Kashmir has fascinated a lot of people from across the world for its pristine natural beauty, long meadows, snow-capped mountains and its wonderful hospitality. At the same time, it is also a place where the Hazratbal shrine, Shankaracharya temple and Amarnath shrine all co-existed for hundreds of years, displaying a unique blend of Indianness - unity in diversity.
As India completes one year of the reorganisation of its erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and creation of two Union Territories - Jammu & Kashmir and Laddakh, it is clear the government of India's decision is bearing fruits in all sectors. By scrapping some provisions of the erstwhile state's own constitution, the government has ensured that the law of the land prevails in the spirit of  "one country, one constitution" to ensure equal rights, equal opportunities and faster development.
On the political front, elections were held for the first time to local village councils in October 2019 with a massive voter turnout. Over Rs15 billion was allocated to the councils to strengthen local development.
Government officials had spent two days in "back to village programme", an unique initiative to understand the requirements at grass root level. There is a robust grievance redressal mechanism at all levels to address concerns of the people.
Creation of infrastructure not only creates better facilities but also provides sustainable employment for the local populace. The government has approved plans to convert Srinagar and Jammu into Smart Cities and expedited projects for providing efficient public transport system in both cities, including flyovers and the rapid transit system (metro). Over 500 pending projects have been completed in the last one year. The J&K Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation has raised Rs80 billion to finance more than 4,000 small and medium infrastructure projects.
The government is committed to connecting Kashmir with the rest of India, and the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project will be completed by 2022. The world's tallest bridge on Chenab river, "Chenab Bridge" at 359 mt high, is one of the finest engineering marvels in the contemporary world and is expected to be completed next year and will pave the way for a direct rail link to Srinagar from the rest of the country. Apart from this, a 8.45 km-long Qazigund-Banihal twin tube tunnel is in its completion phase and will be operational by next year. These steps will pave the way for faster economic development and integration with the rest of the country.
The biggest beneficiary of all these steps will be the tourism sector which will enhance employment opportunities. This will also pave the way for faster movement of goods from/to the rest of the country and will attract more investments to the territory.
The government is also committed to generating more employment and reservation has been introduced in government jobs for local youths. In the last year alone, a total of 10,000 posts have been advertised and 25,000 more are in the pipeline. A total of 50 new educational institutions and two new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in Vijaipur in Jammu and Avantipora in Srinagar have been announced to strengthen the educational and health care infrastructure.
Our memories are still afresh of the flood in Jhelum which inundated Srinagar in 2015, in which army and paramilitary forces saved lives of thousands of people. Phase I of the Jhelum Food Mitigation Project has been completed increasing the carrying capacity of the Jhelum river by 10,000 cusecs which will be further increased to 15,000 cusecs in days to come.
The entire world is battling the corona pandemic and the Jammu and Kashmir is no different. However, J&K is among the best performing states/UTs with a testing rate of 44,744 per million, which is the highest in the country, almost four times the average testing rate in the rest of India. J&K is also one of the states having the first dedicated Covid-19 hospital with 2,000 ICU beds and 2,500 isolation beds. To mitigate the corona-related economical impact, the government has announced a relief package of Rs3.5 billion to cover people affected in various sectors, including tourism.
To sum up, J&K is on a growth trajectory and enjoys all the constitutional rights and privileges as enjoyed by the other citizens of the country.
The writer is Consul-General of India to Dubai and Northern Emirates

• India