Sixty years after the country gained independence, Kashmir valley, for the first time this year, will see a train chugging in when the 47-km rail link between South and central Kashmir is inaugurated shortly.
The rail service to the Kashmir valley was among other things that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad discussed with Railway Minister Lalu Prasad at a meeting in New Delhi.
During the meeting, Azad was assured by the Railway Minister that the work would be completed by March this year and that he would personally come to inaugurate it.
The Chief Minister also demanded that the youth of families from whom land was acquired for the rail project should be absorbed as Class-IV employees of the railways.
Azad also echoed the demand of the Jammu people for converting Jammu as a Railway division, and Lalu promised that he would strengthen it further.
The Railway Minister also assured for speedy work on doubling line between Jalandhar and Jammu.
With the stage being set to change Jammu and Kashmir's financial year from fiscal to calendar year, Azad has been camping in the Capital and has held a series of meetings in New Delhi with Central leaders for additional funds for power, health and infrastructure sectors.
{{/usCountry}}With the stage being set to change Jammu and Kashmir's financial year from fiscal to calendar year, Azad has been camping in the Capital and has held a series of meetings in New Delhi with Central leaders for additional funds for power, health and infrastructure sectors.
{{/usCountry}}The Chief Minister has made a demand for release of Rs 1,300 crore for next two years from the Finance Ministry and Planning Commission for meeting the deficit on account of electricity cost in the state.