Saddal to be Kashmir's first 'smart village'

Saddal village in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir will be the state's first 'smart village', union minister Jitender Singh said Saturday.

The minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Saturday inaugurated hutments for flood-affected families of Saddal-Panjar village in Udhampur district.

The minister - who represents Udhampur constituency in the Lok Sabha - said Saddal will be the first village in Jammu and Kashmir to be converted into a "smart model village".

He appreciated the construction of hutments by NGO Love Care Foundation and various corporate groups with the help of the district administration for the flood-affected people of Saddal.

The new huts will accommodate 26 families of the village.

Jitendra Singh said the smart village will have all modern facilities like hospital, school, and vocational training centre which will have courses on plumbing, mobile phone repair, computers, tailoring and other self-employment generation programmes for the youth.

He said Rs.13 lakh have been released for the vocational centre, and Rs.50 lakh for construction of hutments so far.

The minister assured all support from the union government to the flood-affected families. He also distributed solar lamps and gas stoves among the people.