Doda: Modi Government has sanctioned an exclusive Degree College for Paddar in district Kishtwar of Jammu & Kashmir under the “Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan” (RUSA), thus fulfilling a long standing public demand from this region.
Disclosing this here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that at a meeting of the “Project Approval Board” (PAB) under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) held this morning, a formal sanction was granted for setting up of a Degree College at Paddar, for which under the RUSA scheme an amount of Rs. 10.80 crore will also be provided.
Soon after the sanction approval by the HRD Ministry, Dr Jitendra Singh conveyed his thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, and shared the news with J&K State Power Minister Sunil Sharma, who also happens to be the MLA from Kishtwar Assembly constituency.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the demand for Degree College at Paddar was first raised by the BJP several years ago when it was in the opposition, both at the Centre as well as at the State. However, he said, when the J&K Government could not include Paddar in the list of the recently approved Degree colleges for the State, it was decided to find an alternative means for the purpose and the Union HRD Ministry was approached to sanction a College for Paddar through Central funds.
The people of Paddar, Dr Jitendra Singh said, are extremely progressive and education-minded. However, due to socio- economic constraints, all the students are not in a position to go to distant places for higher education and therefore, a local Degree College will be able to satisfy the educational needs, aptitude and aspiration of this far-flung area, he added.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader, National BJP Secretary and former MLA, R.P. Singh today met Dr Jitendra Singh and took up with him the issue of the victims of 1984 Sikh riots. He also submitted to the Minister a representation giving details about the issue.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed R.P. Singh that the government is already seized of the matter. Since the issue falls under the purview of the Union Ministry of Home, he said, he would forward the representation to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.