Indian government to ‘reorganise’ Jammu and Kashmir — plans to hire 1,300 engineers for its first Metro project

• The Indian government bringing nearly 1,300 engineers onboard for the Kashmir valley’s metro project.
  
• They are hiring professionals trained in architecture, telecommunications, traffic management, signal electronics and civil engineers.
  
• The move comes days after the government’s decision of scrapping Section 370 — which has bifurcated the ‘state’ in two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
  

The Indian government is bracing to ‘reorganise’ Jammu and Kashmir. The centre said that it will hire as many as 1,300 engineers for the valley’s first metro project, in a move that will boost infrastructure as well as employment.

The project will hire across domains like architecture, telecommunications, traffic management, signal electronics and civil engineering, TOI reported.

This is good news for the heavily qualified yet unemployed youth in the state. According to the Directorate of Employment, around 150,000 postgraduates and doctorates in Jammu & Kashmir are jobless.

Cheaper metro fares

The 25 km long metro will connect Indira Nagar to HMT Junction and Hamzuri Bagh to Osmanabad through Srinagar. The fares of this metro will also be cheaper at 1.5 times that of a bus — unlike other metros across the country.

The metro project is expected to cost ₹5,108 crore — and nearly 21% of it will be funded by the centre. The Jammu and Kashmir government will also infuse equal amount into the project.

Once operational, the government is expecting a return of investment of ₹146 crore from the project, in the first five years.

“Revenue for the Srinagar Metro will mainly consist of farebox collection and non-fare box sources such as parking, taxes, advertisements, and property development,” TOI reported citing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Srinagar.

In July, Satya Pal Malik, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir government announced the ‘Light Rail Transit Systems’ for Jammu and Srinagar. Rail Indian Technical and Economic Services (RITES) will take over the project. The tender is expected to be released by the end of August.

The move comes days after the central government scrapped Section 370 — which has bifurcated the ‘state’ in two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

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Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh will now be two separate Union Territories