Mission Ladakh

Sandeep Yadav,  Leh

“We have learnt that all religions are the same and fighting in the name of religion is wrong”, said 12-year-old Tsuru Minege, representing Lamdon Secondary School. She was at the Polo ground participating in the Public Information Campaign (PIC) launched by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to bring awareness among the people about various centrally sponsored schemes for the region. Schoolchildren of various educational institutes enthusiastically took part in the programme and pledged to make rural people living in their respective villages aware about these schemes. The Polo ground, the venue of the campaign, wore a festive look with about 36 stalls put up by various government departments like education, health, animal husbandry, agriculture, forest, JK Bank, tourism, horticulture etc., to showcase their products and highlight their achievements. At these stalls, information regarding important Central government programmes and how to avail the benefits under the programmes was made available to the people ignorant of such projects.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister of J&K government Mangat Ram Sharma said that in spite of weak infrastructure and reluctance on the part of doctors to serve in the rural areas the government has done a commendable job in bringing health facilities to the common man in far-off places like Leh and Kargil. He said that the government is hiring doctors on contract basis to serve the people of the region. “Lots of work has been done and lots need to be done. We will not rest till the last man in the state is guaranteed of quality medication”, promised Sharma to the motley group of Ladakhis who were outnumbered by the schoolchildren.

As part of an innovative out-reach strategy, PIB has developed the concept of Public Information Campaign to disseminate information to the targeted beneficiaries focussing on the flagship programmes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.  Education Minister, J&K government, Peerzada Mohammad Syed informed the masses about the goals of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a national flagship programme to achieve universal elementary education. He also lauded the role of the army in the region for running various literacy programmes including the adult literacy and women empowerment programmes. “The students in the schools of Ladakh are learning four languages which is something not happening anywhere in the country,” revealed the minister. The students here, apart from learning Hindi and English, are also supposed to have a command over Urdu and Ladakhi.

Tsering Dorje, Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh Hill Development Council (LHDC), said that India’s dream of becoming a developed country cannot be fulfilled until the condition of thousands of people living under the poverty line is improved. Dorje called upon the general public to get benefited from the campaign. The campaign also witnessed the presence of Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister of Power, J&K, who stressed that the government would take every possible step to improve the power situation in the Ladakh region. Dorje said that the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidvutikaran Yojna (RGVY) has been submitted to the Rural Electrification Corporation of India for electrification of 62 villages of the region at a cost of Rs 66.93 lakh. Out of the 240 inhabited villages in the region, 178 have been electrified so far. Earlier, Deepak Sandhu, Director General (PIB), welcoming the political dignatries requested them to motivate local people to participate in the campaign and get benefitted.

“Things have improved a lot after the constitution of two Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil districts,” said Murap Tsere, a schoolteacher at the Polo ground. He said that the on-the-spot decision-making has improved the quality of governance. Surinder Singh, a Sikh driver who has been plying his truck between Jammu and Leah since late 70s, says that all the development one sees here has started just seven or eight years ago. The Autonomous Hill Councils were formed in 1998. District Commissioner M K Dwivedi has taken up the cause of tree plantation in the region. “We have planted more than 3 laky plants in the area. People say that I have brought the oxygen to Leh,” says Dwivedi proudly.