Srinagar, Mar 19: Minister for Education, Finance, Labour & Employment Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Monday said that Shehr-e-Khaas assumes a great deal of significance in the ambitious smart city programme for Srinagar being implemented by the the present dispensation.
Addressing a party convention at Khanyar, Bukhari said that the state government is committed to revive the historic, cultural and economic significance of Shehr-e-Khass and its adjoining areas in Srinagar.
“You will shortly witness an equitable and balanced development in all sectors of the governance in your areas,” he told the gathering of party workers.
He said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has shown her keen interest in restoration of pristine glory and the historic importance of Srinagar city especially Shehr-e-Khaas.
“Srinagar, after being included in the ‘Smart Cities Mission’, will go through a major transformation in the coming years as the state government is moving ahead with a major infrastructure development across the city. I am sure that Shehr-e-Khass will be a major beneficiary of this programme,” he added.
He asked the gathering to strengthen the party at grass root level by disseminating its socio economic and political agenda in their areas of influence. “I assure you that the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is fully aware of your livelihood concerns and she will soon come up with some remedies to your sufferings,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Peerzada Mansoor Hussain, PDP general secretary central Kashmir said that National Conference during its tenure of governance has destroyed the historic character of Shehr-e-Khas by wanton destruction of all symbols of Kashmir’s glorious heritage.
He claimed that people of Kashmir were made to compromise their socio-economic and political identity by National Conference for the sake and lust of power.
“Whatever baggage of challenges and difficulties we face at present have been inherited by us as an outcome of the deeds of National Conference. The voices of dissent in Kashmir also face the same challenges created by the power hungry National Conference,” Mansoor said.