Rajnath Singh says security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxal-hit areas improved due to efforts of Centre, state govts

New Delhi: The security situation in the country, including in Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-hit areas, has improved considerably, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4272581” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Union home minister Rajnath Singh. PTI[/caption] Singh made the remark at an inter-ministerial meeting, convened to discuss development issues in Jammu and Kashmir, Left Wing Extremism-affected states and the Northeast region. The home minister said the overall security situation in the country had shown considerable improvement, an official statement said. He said the LWE situation was well under control and it was made possible due to the efforts of security forces and development initiatives undertaken by the central and state governments. He said it’s time to move forward with speed on the development front. The meeting discussed issues related to increasing the limit of general approval under the Forest Conservation Act from 5 hectares to 40 hectares for all linear projects, upgradation of 2,187 mobile towers installed in Phase-I and installation of 4072 mobile towers in Phase-II, the statement read. Operationalisation of approved 1,789 post offices, approval for additional 4,173 post offices in the 106 LWE-affected districts and provision of core banking services in these post offices were also discussed. The meeting reviewed improvement in the education infrastructure with the opening of additional Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas, opening of additional girls hostels and upgradation of schools in Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and extension of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to all affected districts. Provision of solar pumps, lamps and street lights in LWE -affected districts, improvement of communication infrastructure in the Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the Ladakh region, and Lakshadweep was discussed. Strengthening of the education infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir was discussed at length. Those who attended the meeting included Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha among others.