Jammu: Union minister Jitendra Singh Saturday visited the construction site of Government Medical College (GMC) in his home constituency of Udhampur, which is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 255 crores at Bailli village.
During his visit, Singh asked the officials and agencies concerned to start the work without any delay so that the classes could commence from the next academic session.
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Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, pointed out that Udhampur Parliamentary constituency is the only one in the country which has got three Medical Colleges from the Central grant.
He also attended the grand "Devika Utsav" held at the banks of river Devika Ghat in Udhampur.
The event was held to celebrate the completion of development works under "River Devika Abatement and Beautification Project" of National River Conservation Plan.
"River Devika is not merely a project but a matter of faith for all of us," he said, reiterating that the holy project does not belong to a particular political party or an individual but "it is equally owned by each one of us".
The minister said he had been repeatedly suggesting to the administration to entertain and accommodate inputs and suggestions coming from every person regardless of his ideological belief or political affiliation, as long as they add value to the project.
Giving full credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the Devika Project would have never got approval if Modi was not the PM.
"When Prime Minister launched the 'Nanami Gange' project in 2014 after sworn in as Prime Minister, a similar thought came to mind to start 'River Devika Abatement and Beautification Project' as Devika is considered the elder sister of Ganga," he said.
Singh said there has been delay in the execution of the project, partly because of COVID-19 and partly because of the lapses on the part of the contractor agency which has now been subjected to penalty and also issued a blacklist warning.
He expressed hope that the remaining work of the project, mainly pertaining to floriculture, beautification and recreation complex, will also be completed soon.
He accusing previous governments deliberately neglecting the region because of "vote bank consideration".
He cited the example of demand for a radio station in Udhampur which was first raised during the Indo-Pak war of 1965 but it was set up only four years back by the Modi government.
The launching of the Devika Project was announced by the Prime Minister during his visit to Jammu in February 2019.
The work on the prestigious Rs 186.74 crore project, which has been included in the Government of India's National River Conservation Project (NRCP), started in March 2019.
The project, inter alia, included the construction of three sewage treatment plants of 8 MLD, 4 MLD and 1.6 MLD capacity, sewerage network of 129.27 km, development of two cremation ghats, protection fencing and landscaping, small hydropower plants and three solar power plants.
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