General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lieutenant General Y K Joshi on Friday said the government’s move to revoke the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir had helped restore faith of the people in government institutions.
Speaking on the occasion of Army Day at an event in Udhampur, Lt Gen Joshi said, “The abrogation of Article 370 and improvement in governance thereof, has been a major game-changer and helped restore faith of the common people in the institutions of government.” He added that the recently-held District Development Council elections in the UT of J&K “conveyed the resolve of the awaam (populace) to shun separatism and embrace democracy’’.
On August 5, 2019, the BJP-led Central government revoked the special status granted to the state of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh.
The government then moved to establish a three-tier Panchayati Raj system in J&K by holding DDC polls in the last quarter of 2020.
In his address, Lt Gen Joshi said the Army too had played a role in “creating an ecosystem and normalcy in which people can resume and live their lives normally” despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Pointing out that Operation Sadbhavana had been pivotal in providing job opportunities and education to the youth, he said, “We are making a lot of efforts to win over the youth by giving them better opportunities in education and employment.”