No period in J-K during militancy as peaceful as it is now: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi: Union minister Jitendra Singh said in Lok Sabha on Wednesday that there has not been a more peaceful eight-month period in the militancy-hit region than the one since August last when Article 370 was

nullified.

Intervening during a discussion on the budget for Jammu and Kashmir, he cited development figures to assert that new dreams and aspirations have emerged in the region after it was brought under the Centre's direct

rule.

Amid opposition members' attack on the Modi government over the detention of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, now released, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Singh hit out at them, saying they are not worried about over 40,000 people who have lost their lives in the last 30 years of militancy there but only bothered about two-three families.

The number of detainees in the union territory is the least right now in the last 30 years, the Udhampur MP said.

Some people say, Singh claimed, that things remained under control in the erstwhile state after Article 370, which gave it special status, was rolled back and it was brought under the Centre's direct rule by being turned into a union territory because they were detained, in a reference to the former CMs.

As the opposition objected, he said he was only airing the view of a section of people who considered these leaders as "potential troublemakers".

"Prophets of doom have been proved wrong. That is their agony. It was said earthquake will follow and volcano will erupt," he said.

The GST collection from Jammu and Kashmir has since then gone up by 13 per cent and excise duty by 7.5 per cent while 60,000 new pensioners have been enrolled into various schemes, he said.

While only 1,008 new houses were built under the PM Awas Yojna in 2008, 18,534 were built in 2019, he said, adding that fund utilisation there has gone up by 48 per

cent.