Be it democracy or development, today Jammu and Kashmir is setting new example: PM Modi

During his first visit to the union territory since the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, PM Modi said that he is in J&K to `give speed to the development`.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (April 24, 2022) visited Jammu and Kashmir and inaugurated and laid foundation stones for projects worth over Rs 20,000 crore. During his first visit to the union territory since the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, PM Modi said that he is in J&K to 'give speed to the development'.

"I am here with a message of development. To give speed to development in J&K projects worth over Rs 20,000 crore have been inaugurated today," PM Modi said while addressing Gram Sabhas across the country from Jammu's Samba district on the occasion of Panchayati Raj Day.

"Be it democracy or development, today Jammu and Kashmir is setting a new example. New dimensions of development have been created in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 2-3 years," the prime minister added.

PM Modi said that a new story of development is being written in Jammu and Kashmir and that many private investors are interested to come to the union territory.

"To give a new impetus to the development of Jammu and Kashmir, work is going on at a fast pace in the Union Territory.These efforts will provide employment to a large number of youths of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

The prime minister said it is a matter of great pride that at a time when democracy has reached grassroots in Jammu and Kashmir through the Panchayati raj system, he was interacting with panchayats across the country.

Modi said those who did not get the benefit of reservation for years in Jammu and Kashmir have started getting the benefit of the reservation after the abrogation of Article 370.