Launches month-long “Seva Sankalp Abhiyan” across J&K from today till October 17; cites USBRL rail link, national highway and airport expansion as proof of “new, powerful” Union Territory
Highlights:
– LG Sinha celebrates PM Modi’s 76th birthday with children at Srinagar’s Palaash and Pareesha homes, visits Bemina Children’s Hospital
– Launches “Seva Sankalp Abhiyan”, a month-long service campaign running September 17 to October 17
– Says road and tunnel projects worth over ₹1.5 lakh crore are currently underway in J&K
– Cites USBRL rail link, national highway network growth from 91,000 km to 1.46 lakh km, and airports up from 74 to 165
Srinagar, Sep 17 (BuzzBytes): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday marked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 76th birthday by visiting Srinagar’s ‘Palaash’ and ‘Pareesha’ children’s homes, distributing school bags, sports kits and sweets to the children and reviewing the residential facilities provided for their welfare, before proceeding to the Children’s Hospital at Bemina to spend time with young patients undergoing treatment.
Speaking to reporters and in an official statement issued by the Department of Information, the Lieutenant Governor said Prime Minister Modi “has worked day and night for 140 crore countrymen and has helped build a new, powerful Jammu Kashmir.” He said the GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2026–27 stood at 7.8 per cent, and that 25 crore people had moved above the poverty line while 80 crore were receiving free ration under the Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana.
Sinha highlighted what he called the unprecedented growth of national highways, from 91,000 km to 1,46,000 km, and airports, from 74 to 165, across the country. “Kashmir is now directly connected with the rail network. Discrimination has been eliminated and the UT is witnessing historic transformation,” he said, adding that 11 crore toilets, more than 10 crore gas connections and 4 crore houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana had been provided nationally, with another 3 crore under construction.
Separately, speaking to reporters in Srinagar on the Prime Minister’s birthday, the Lieutenant Governor credited Modi’s leadership for what he described as significant infrastructure and welfare-related changes in Jammu and Kashmir, saying road and tunnel projects worth more than ₹1.5 lakh crore are currently underway in the Union Territory. He said the development of infrastructure in J&K had been significant over the past 12 years. The figure comes amid a continuing infrastructure expansion in the Union Territory; the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had said in June that highway projects worth approximately ₹1.35 lakh crore, covering completed, ongoing and upcoming works, were being implemented across Jammu and Kashmir.
Sinha pointed to the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) as the fulfilment of a long-standing objective of connecting the Kashmir Valley with the national railway network. The 272-km USBRL was commissioned in 2026 and includes 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, according to the Union government. The LG said the infrastructure push was accompanied by the implementation of central welfare programmes in J&K, and that the Union Territory had moved beyond what he described as earlier discrimination.
The Lieutenant Governor’s remarks came as the Union government and the BJP began a month-long programme, the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, to mark Modi’s 76th birthday and 25 years in public life. It is pertinent to mention that the campaign, which begins today and runs till October 17, will include 12 programmes across J&K — school competitions on ‘Mere Sapno ka Bharat’, honouring of Anganwadi and ASHA workers, tree plantation drives, youth activities, and registration camps under the ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’. “Until 17 October, a ‘Seva Setu Abhiyan’ will be run at block and ward level, with 3–4 day camps to register deprived beneficiaries for government schemes. I earnestly appeal that every citizen of Jammu Kashmir participates wholeheartedly in this campaign,” the Lieutenant Governor said, appealing to people across the UT to take part in the month-long observance—(BuzzBytes)
