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Narendra Modi In Jammu Today, Expected To Announce Rs 70,000 Crore Development Package

Narendra Modi In Jammu Today, Expected To Announce Rs 70,000 Crore Development Package
A supporter of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds up a mask of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally in Kathua, about 90 kilometers from Jammu, India, Saturday, Dec.13, 2014. The final two phases of the five-phased state elections of Jammu and Kashmir will be held on Dec. 14 and 20. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
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A supporter of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds up a mask of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally in Kathua, about 90 kilometers from Jammu, India, Saturday, Dec.13, 2014. The final two phases of the five-phased state elections of Jammu and Kashmir will be held on Dec. 14 and 20. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Security has been beefed up in and around Jammu ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city today, against the backdrop of several infiltration attempts from across the border.

Modi is expected to release a massive "development package" of as much as Rs. 70,000 crore, Hindu reported. The funds will be spent over the next five years on projects to be identified by the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government, the report said.

The outreach package is expected to be spent in projects that will include a medical institute, affiliated to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, in Anantnag, an Indian Institute of Technology each in Jammu and in Kashmir, and an Indian Institute of Management in Jammu, Hindu said.

Writing for the Times of India, Dileep Padgaonkar said the separatists and the National Conference, the main opposition party in the state, have already rubbished the financial package "as a devious attempt to divert attention from the 'core' political issues that plague the state".

"Their real fear however is that the package could by and by change the narrative in J&K. The fear is not unfounded. Successful implementation of the package won’t vanquish separatist sentiment altogether. But it would go some way to arrest, and perhaps even to roll back, its appeal, especially among the youth," he wrote.

Meanwhile security teams have already reached Jammu to carry out sensitisation of the venue where prime minister is scheduled to address a gathering.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit is to take part in the centenary celebrations of former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Girdhari Lal Dogra.

The venue of the function, General Zorawar Singh auditorium of the Jammu University, has been sealed and the entire University has been turned into a fortress.

No vehicle is being allowed inside the Jammu university campus and everybody entering the university campus is being properly frisked.

"Elaborate security arrangements have been kept in place ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Jammu," SSP (in charge) Jammu Rajiv Panday told PTI.

He said that the area around the venues of Prime Minister's visit have been properly sensitised and adequate deployment has been made near the venue.

"We have covered all the areas near the venue, the police and other security agencies have sanitised the area and personnel have been deployed on all the high-rise buildings in and around the venue," he said.

He said that frisking of the people going towards the venue would be done and nobody would be allowed without a valid identity card.

The police officer said that to deal with any contingency multiple quick reaction teams (QRTs) have been deployed all along the route of the Prime Minister's visit.

The SSP said that additional check points have been established and additional police personnel have been deployed to thwart any nefarious designs of the anti national elements.

The Pakistani side has been continuously resorting to ceasefire violations as the army foiled an infiltration attempt in Poonch while another bid was foiled by the BSF in RS Pura sector.

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