It Was Not Possible to Bring Industries to J&K Unless Article 370 Was Scrapped, Says Union Minister

Jammu: Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Sunday reiterated that the Centre was working hard to bring development in Jammu and Kashmir and said it was not possible to attract industries to the valley unless Article 370 was scrapped.

The minister said industrialists have shown interest in setting up units here.

Choubey was part a group of Union ministers currently visiting Jammu and Kashmir under a week-long public outreach programme initiated by the Centre to apprise people of the potential benefits of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status after nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution.

"Unless Articles 370 and 35A were abrogated, it was not possible to bring industries to valley," Choubey told a function here this evening.

Choubey, attending a felicitation ceremony of Ayushman Bharat-Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojna here, said that government is working very hard for development of Jammu and Kashmir and creating employment opportunities as it is "crown of India".

He said that the prime minister has sent a group of ministers to understand the demand and desire of the people and that he is here to listen to problems and solve them and submit a report to the prime minister.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare said the civil work on the prestigious Rs 1,661-crore All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) project in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir would commence next month, an official spokesman said.

He asked officials to work in close coordination so that the process of construction of the premier health institute is carried out in a smooth and expeditious manner.

Besides Choubey, other Union ministers who visited different parts of Jammu as part of the week-long outreach programme included Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Arjun Ram Meghwal, V Muraleedharan, Anurag Thakur, Jitendra Singh and R K Singh.

The Centre abrogated Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into Union Territories in August last year.