New Delhi [India], January 25 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said a new era of peace and security has begun in Jammu and Kashmir, as there has been a 70 per cent decline in total terrorism-related incidents after the abrogation of Article 370 from the erstwhile state.

The minister made the statement after he launched the e-bus service in Jammu and distributed more than one thousand appointment letters for the Jammu and Kashmir Combined Examination-2024 and compassionate appointment through video conferencing from the national capital.

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Since the abrogation of Article 370 from the Union Territory, the minister also said there has been an 81 per cent reduction in civilian deaths and a 48 per cent in the death of security forces.

Shah said there were 2654 incidents of organised stone pelting in 2010, which were reduced to Zero in 2023. "There were 132 incidents of organized strikes in 2010, while not a single incident took place in 2023."

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He said similarly, in 2010, 112 civilians died in stone pelting, in 2023 not a single civilian died and in 2010 the number of civilians injured in stone pelting was 6235, which is zero today.

Shah added that the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was strictly cracking down on terror financing, sealing and freezing assets of terrorists, and has also outlawed several terrorist organizations to crack down on them.

He added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, a new era of peace and security has dawned in Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah said in the coming days, Jammu and Kashmir will continue to move ahead on the path of development at the same pace because now the youth here are taking computers in their hands instead of stones and are connecting with the development of the country and the Union Territory.

He said investments worth Rs 297 crore came to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019-20 and increased significantly to Rs 2,153 crore in 2022-23.

Along with this, an investment of Rs 6,000 crore is in the pipeline, Shah said, adding that GSDP was Rs one lakh crore in 2014-15, which increased more than two times to Rs 2,27,927 crore in 2022-23.

"Earlier, there were 94 colleges in Jammu and Kashmir, today there are 147. Earlier there were no IIM, IIT, and AIIMS, today IIM, IIT, and two AIIMS have were established in Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, there were four medical colleges, and now seven new medical colleges have been established in the UT. There was not even a single nursing college, today there are 15 nursing colleges. Medical seats were 500, now they have increased to 1,300. Post Graduation seats were 367, now 300 more seats have been added and 3,000 nursing seats have also been increased in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Shah said that 173 projects have been completed in Jammu amd Kashmir under the Smart City Mission and homes to 1,45,000 people have been allocated within a very short period from 2019 to 2024.

"The work of providing tap water to the houses of 13 lakh people has been done and along with this, the entire health expenses of up to Rs 5 lakh of 82 lakh people are being borne by the Government of India and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir," the Home Minister said.

Shah said earlier, only 60 services were online in Jammu and Kashmir, which has now increased to 1,102, due to which corruption has been curbed.

"Earlier the number of players in Jammu and Kashmir was less than 2 lakhs, which has now increased to more than 60 lakhs," he said.

100 fully air-conditioned e-buses have been dedicated to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the event. The project started with the operation and maintenance of these buses for 12 years at a cost of Rs 561 crore.

Of these 100 buses, 25 are 12 meters long and 75 buses are nine meters long. These buses will also ply from Jammu to Katra, Kathua, Udhampur and on the internal routes of Jammu. These buses will not only remove the commuting problems of the people in the coming days but will also be very useful from an environmental point of view.

Further, at the event, the Home Minister said today, 209 successful candidates of the Jammu and Kashmir Combined Examination-2024 batch have also received their appointment letters. These include 96 officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service, 63 officers of the Account Gazette Service and 50 officers of the Police Service. (ANI)

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