Kathua/Jammu, Jun 14 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said there is a lot of enthusiasm among the people within and outside the country about the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.

The 43-day-long pilgrimage to 3880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas is scheduled to start on June 30 from the twin routes – traditional 48-km Nunwan in south Kashmir's Pahalgam and 14-km shorter Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal after a gap of two years due to Coronavirus pandemic.

Also Read | Punjab Shocker: Man Robs Teenager’s Scooter in Broad Daylight After Running Out of Fuel in Mohali.

In August 2019, the pilgrimage was cancelled midway ahead of the revocation of the Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.

“It is a matter of great courage and in my opinion this is also an achievement (of the BJP government) with regard to Jammu and Kashmir where the yatra used to take place for 10-10 days and suspended several times, is taking place for a full term of about two months,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines of a rally here.

Also Read | Jyeshtha Purnima 2022: Amarnath Shrine Board Organises 'Pratham Puja' at Holy Cave.

He said adequate arrangements will be made for the yatra which has attracted a lot of enthusiasm within and outside the country.

Asked about the targeted attacks by terrorists in Kashmir, he said the government is concerned about it and taking necessary steps to stop such activities.

In response to a question about nationwide protests by Congress workers over the summoning of their leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate, Singh said the biggest achievement of the eight-year-old Narendra Modi government is that real democracy has taken roots in the country where an ordinary person can reach the highest level because of his hardwork and and not on the basis of family influence.

“Some of the family dynasts who have become habitual of enjoying power and nobody questions them need to change their mindset so that the democratic rights of the citizens reach them,” he said.

Singh also expressed satisfaction over the return of normalcy in Bhaderwah town of Doda district, a part of his home constituency of Udhampur, in the aftermath of the recent communal tension.

“Bhaderwah is a beautiful place and such an incident (communal tension) breaks the heart. It is the responsibility of elderly citizens, heads and opinion makers of different communities to sit together and make the youth, belonging to any religion and are misled, understand (the power of communal harmony)," he said.

"I am thankful to the people for holding meetings as a result of which the overall situation has improved and curfew is being relaxed,” he said.

The minister also questioned those who are claiming that there was no development work done under the BJP rule and said a list of 75 prominent works undertaken in his constituency over the past eight years is with the public.

Singh said there was always a complaint about regional discrimination but after Narendra Modi came to power, everything changed on the ground and the development was taken to new heights.

“The morale of BJP workers also got a big boost and the opposition leaders started knocking the doors of the party to join. This is all because of the policies of the Modi government which has made it clear to the people that his government will be dedicated to their service,” he said.

He said the BJP always believed in service to the people and that is the reason that after 60 years, they provided an opportunity to the party to convert their promises to reality.

“Those criticising the BJP government are the same people who are also enjoying the benefits of developmental work done by the party. They cross tunnels and bridges constructed by this government to save their time,” he said.

Earlier, the minister led a ‘Garib Kalyan' rally from Kalibari to Mukerjee chowk, passing through various parts of the city where his supporters welcomed him with flowers and garlands.

He also addressed the gathering and highlighted various achievements registered by the Modi-led BJP government over the past eight years.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)