Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], Aug 15 (ANI): On the occasion of 74th Independence Day, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Saturday announced an additional Rs 25 lakh insurance cover for healthcare workers for working selflessly during the COVID outbreak.
In his address, Sinha said that the newly announced Rs 25 lakh insurance is in addition to Rs 50 lakh insurance cover offered by the Central government.
Sinha further said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration is planning to extend benefits of Jammu and Kashmir health scheme to one crore more beneficiaries, making it first of its kind scheme in the country covering Universal Health Insurance for the citizens.
He also recalled sacrifices by countless freedom fighters and said, “This day inspires us to preserve and protect the Independence and integrity of our country and create a poverty-free, disease-free and illiteracy free society.”
He also observed that the 2019 constitutional change has led to 50 decisions to usher in a new era of normalcy and development in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sinha laid out the five principles of his government, namely transparency in governance, empowering grassroots democracy, people’s welfare, accelerated development, and creation of employment opportunities, during the event.
Giving details of initiatives taken by the administration to bring development in Jammu and Kashmir, the LG said that New Domicile Rules and Reservation Policy shall provide equality and justice to the deprived sections like West Pakistan Refugees, Pahari-speaking people, Safai-Karamis (sanitation workers) and women married outside Jammu and Kashmir.
“Reservation policy is also being made more effective and inclusive,” he added.
“Jammu and Kashmir people had upheld national integration during the partition. This place is remembered for bravehearts like Brigadier Rajinder Singh and Brigadier Usman and is the land of Rishi Kashyap, Prophet Mohammad, Guru Nanak and Buddha. We have to carry forward this legacy of religious inclusivity,” he continued.
The LG also remembered the time-honored tradition of Jammu and Kashmir that reflected on the peaceful and syncretic co-existence of people of the Union Territory.
He added that youth has the power of transformation and recalled his own student life which was marked with activism and asked the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to direct their activism towards development as future leaders of the country.
Sinha, in his first Independence day celebration as the LG of the Union Territory, hoisted the national flag at Sher-i-Kashmir, Cricket Stadium in Srinagar.
Among those present on the occasion were Justice Gita Mittal, Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Judges of the High Court, Advisors to the Lieutenant Governor, Members of Parliament among other people. (ANI)