Jitendra Singh adopts Kishtwar hamlet under PMAGY

JAMMU: Union Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh has adopted Bhattan village in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir to develop it under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY).

"This is the fourth village that I as a member of Parliament has adopted in the past seven months," Singh, who is elected from the Doda-Udhampur constituency, told reporters here today.

Earlier, he has adopted Sangwali village in Kathua district, Hamble village in Doda district and Saddal village in Udhampur district.

"An amount of over Rs 37 lakh has been released from my MPLAD fund for Sangwali village and the process to release funds for other villages in also under process," he said.

Singh said in his tenure of five years as MP he plans to adopt six villages in the state. "Earlier people used to allege that MPs from the area don't utilise these funds, but now all the funds would be used for development of these areas," he said.

Saddal village, which was washed away in last year's flash floods, will be developed as a model village.

Speaking about the border residents in Jammu who continue to suffer due to the cross-border firing, the Union Minister said, "We are committed to provide the border residents a safer place where they can take shelter when the other side resorts to cross-border firing."