Poonch (J&K), Feb 8 (IANS) People of Jammu and Kashmir have expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling residents of border villages ‘Pratham Gramin’ in Parliament.
PM Modi said this on Thursday while responding to the discussion in Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks on the President's address.
People of Poonch told IANS on Friday that this makes them feel at home. PM Modi also talked about the comprehensive development of border agriculture and the promotion of tourism. Locals believe that this will create more employment opportunities in future.
Social activist Dilbag Singh said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech that people of border areas will now be treated as 'front line' people. He said that these areas will be developed first and the Government is committed to their development.
“I will request for the development of border areas of Poonch. Tourism should be promoted here. Most of the funds that used to come to Jammu and Kashmir were accommodated elsewhere. We would like that this particular area of Poonch should be taken care of, its border areas should be developed, which have not been developed till now. This development should be for those places where tourism needs to be promoted. I would say that we do not have to compete with anyone in the world, and I thank him once again."
Local resident Sunil Kumar said, "People living on the border were earlier called backwards, where there were no facilities of roads and water. But our Prime Minister Modi said in his speech remarked that these people are not backward, but forward because they fight on the front line. We are very happy with this and we express our gratitude to our Prime Minister. We want that what the Prime Minister said should be implemented as soon as possible because this will increase employment of people."
Another local, Captain Aleem Ahmed, said, "On Thursday we heard a news in which our Prime Minister said that people living on the border were earlier called 'backward'. But he said that these people live on the 'front'. If the Prime Minister is saying that we live on the front, then I have a request that the district-level officials should keep this in mind. If the Prime Minister has said this, then steps should be taken for our development. We live on the front, which has some good and some bad, problems too, especially on the border. But we want our area to develop and move forward."
Sunil Kumar Sharma said, "I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said in his speech that the people living on the border are no longer 'backward people'. PM Modi said this is a big step for the people of the border. The government is bringing money through tourism, roads are being developed on a large scale, and everyone is getting facilities. We are seeing on the border that we are also getting the benefit of the same facilities."
It may be noted that PM Modi said in Rajya Sabha, "Our Government has also focused on different regions of the country that face significant backwardness, such as border villages.” He highlighted the psychological shift brought about by the Government, ensuring that border villagers are prioritised. He emphasised that these villages, where the first and last rays of the sun touch, have been given special status as "first villages" with specific development plans. The Prime Minister noted that ministers were sent to remote villages to stay for 24 hours, even in extreme conditions like minus 15 degrees, to understand and address the villagers' problems.
