New Delhi: Drawing inspiration from the initiative of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a financial package of Rs80,000 crore for transforming the state.

Referring to the three principles espoused by Vajpayee to resolve the long standing fault lines, Modi emphasised the need for kashmiriyat (culture), jamooriyat (democracy) and insaniyat (humanity) for the development of the state.

“Education, human resource, agriculture sector, health sector, road network are needed in the state...the government has decided a package of Rs80,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. This should change the fate of youth of Kashmir. The money is for development of Kashmir. This is not a full-stop but just the beginning. The treasury of Delhi is for you and my heart is also for you," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a public meeting in Srinagar on Saturday.

This is the second such large economic package announced by the Modi government after it unveiled a Rs1.25 lakh crore special package for Bihar before the assembly election. Over 300 people were killed and thousands were affected by the September 2014 floods in Kashmir, thought to be the worst in decades.

“Kashmiriyat (culture), jamooriyat (democracy) and insaniyat (humanity) were the three pillars of development of Kasmhir. There can be no forward movement without humanity," Modi added.

Modi also assured the state government that centre will extend all possible help for development of the state. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in alliance with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir. “We will work to make a new Kashmir with the help of youth," Modi said at the end of the public meeting.

Implicitly talking to the United Nations and the international community, Modi stressed he didn’t want advice or analysis from anyone. We want to take the path shown by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. People have suffered for 30 years and now they want to take Kashmir forward," Modi said at the meeting.

Talking about the development of the state, Modi said that the primary objective of the government was to ensure help for farmers who suffered losses during floods, job creation for youth, help for shopkeepers, providing basic facilities and rebuilding homes.

“Reconstruction of homes, shops will not be enough for Kashmir, we have to go forward from that. The problems of youth of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will be solved through employment. Many students from the state are not joining IAS, IPS, IITs and IIMs," Modi said.

Modi also announced that the Union government will spend Rs34,000 crore to build a new highway between Jammu and Kashmir. “At present, it takes 9-10 hours for people to cover this distance but after the tunnel is made, the same distance can be covered in 3.5-4 hours. We also need information ways or i-ways, optical fibre network to create employment for youth," added Modi.

Modi said that the government will start skill development opportunities which will increase employment opportunities.

Political analysts feel that Modi should have announced the financial package much earlier because the people of the state were expecting it to happen earlier. “We have been waiting for this package for a long time. It is been 17 months of this government, Prime Minister came to Jammu and Kashmir. The government must take steps which are visible because Kashmir has still recovered from the floods. Prime Minister has talked about kashmiriyat, jamooriyat, and insaniyat earlier also, he should also define his policy initiatives and it should be limited to rhetoric," said Ellora Puri, political science professor at Jammu University.

(Asit Ranjan Mishra contributed to the story)

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