Trains from Kashmir will ferry fruits, vegetables to every corner of country: Union Minister Khattar

By: Riyaz Bhat

Srinagar: Union Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal Khattar Thursday said that with the arrival of Vande Bharat Trains, the fruits and vegetables of J&K will no longer remain stuck anywhere.

Speaking at a press conference here—marking 11 years of the BJP-led Central government, Khattar  said, “The Vande Bharat train that connected Jammu and Kashmir to the rest of the country will be more beneficial.”

“Since we are dependent on fruits and vegetable business, we used to export it to the other parts of the country through trucks but now it will reduce the burden as the apple of Kashmir will go to each and every corner of India through railways,” he said.

The minister said, “The fruits and the vegetables coming from Kashmir will no longer remain stuck in the middle of any place or Mandi.”

He said, “After the abrogation of Article-370 we have all accepted now that we are all equal and Indians. The loopholes that had remained in 1947, PM Modi has filled the gap now.”

About the Pahalgam terror attack, Khattar said, “The people of Jammu and Kashmir have come up against the terrorism after the Pahalgam terror attack. I salute the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have raised their voices against the terror attack in Pahalgam.”

“There will be no tolerance of terrorism. Everyone who will be indulging in terrorist activities or is supporting terrorism will not be spared. The way we have executed operation Sindoor, the world has come to know the power of India,” he said.

The minister further said, “The way our security forces attacked 9 terrorist sites during the operation Sindoor in 22 minutes, they won’t dare to look against India any longer.”

About the development in the past 11 years of the BJP-led central government, Khatter said, “99 percent of roads in the villages have got connected with PM Gram Sadak Yojna.”

“India has become the third country in the world to have over more than 1000 KM of metro,” he said.

Khattar further said that there has been a huge development in National Highways. “I think from 2022 till 2010 it used to take 7-8 hours to reach Srinagar from Jammu. Now after the development of the 4 lane National Highway, it takes only 4.5 hours to reach here.”

“There were only 74 airports and now we have 160 airports after 10 years,” he said.

The minister further said, “About the development, the minister said that since 2013, at least 700 medical colleges have been increased across India wherein MBBS and PG seats have also developed and increased accordingly.”

“In terms of ease of doing business, India was holding 142nd rank in 2014 and now we are holding 63rd position,” Khattar said.

He said, “There were more than 1500 laws having issues and they all were abolished so that people can work easily. Likewise, there has been registration of 1.8 Lakh new companies.”

“Since 2014-14 till now at least 54,000 Kilometres of National Highways have been constructed,” the minister said.

He said, “There were 25 Crores internet connections in 2014 and now we have more than 97 Crores connections.”—(KNO)