Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget Session, Kovind also highlighted the peaceful conclusion of Panchayat elections in the state recently, saying 70 per cent voters participated in the polls “enthusiastically”.

“My government is committed to equitable development of Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir. As a result of the efforts of my government, an environment favourable to development has been created in the state,” he said.

Kovind said the NDA government was committed to the development of Jammu and Kashmir and had announced a package of Rs 80,000 crore and projects related to infrastructure, health and education sectors worth more than Rs 66,000 crore have already been approved so far.

“Recently, in Jammu and Kashmir, elections to urban local bodies after an interval of 13 years and in Panchayats after 7 years have been conducted peacefully with more than 70 per cent voters participating enthusiastically,” he said. PTI