In what can give fillip to exploring region's potential for tourism, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has batted strongly for evolving Jammu as the hub of tourism, religious tourism being the focus around which the government intends to priortize.
"We want the Jammu region to evolve into a hub for tourism, especially religious tourism, which will transform the lives of local communities,” Abdullah said after inauguration of the newly constructed college complex of Government Degree College (GDC) Purmandal in Samba district.
Apart from famous Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, Jammu has scores of religious places which have neither been developed fully nor any steps by the erstwhile governments to divert lakhs of pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi Shrine every year. CM's statement has come at at time when his government is strongly pitching for revival of tourism in Kashmir which took a hit post Pahalgam terror attack.
There is no doubt that Kashmir has unmatched natural beauty which make it one of the best tourist destinations in the country but the spectrum of Jammu’s tourism potential is equally vast and varied with snow clad mountains, snowy meadows and rivers housing , unique cultures in hilly terrains, which have remained unexplored and hidden for the tourists due to regional discrimination and negligent conduct of the political powers in the past, even though people have been waiting for equal justice for decades.
Omar Abdullah made this important statement amid a gathering of students and academia and therefore he could not conclude before conveying his intentions to boost the level of education in UT. CM described the occasion as a proud and fortunate moment, marking a significant milestone for higher education in the region.
“I will not consider my mission fulfilled until the day students from outside J-K come here to pursue their education,” he said.
Today, many of our students are compelled to study outside the state, and during global crises, they face great difficulties, the CM added. He further committed to upgrading government schools in Jammu and Kashmir to improved standards, underlining the government’s dedication to strengthening the education sector.
“Government jobs alone cannot eliminate unemployment. Real change will come when our students are trained in world-class skills and we will not stop until our goals for the youth are fully implemented,” he asserted.Abdullah expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for facilitating the safe return of students from J-K who were studying in Iran, and assured parents of continued efforts to ensure student safety abroad.
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