Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said the two new Union territories—Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh—which will come into existence next week, will get equitable benefits, cutting across all sections of the society and regions without any bias.He said over the last seven decades, a constant grievance across the state was that certain regions and sections of people were feeling discriminated against.

While Jammu always complained about the lion’s share going to the Kashmir valley, Ladakh too felt neglected, the minister said.

“As a Union Territory, Jammu and Kashmir will get equitable benefits after October 31, cutting across all sections of the society and regions, regardless of any extraneous considerations. The same would also applyto the Union Territory of Ladakh,” he told reporters here, ahead of the formalbifurcation of the state.The Centre had, on August 5, announced abrogation ofthe special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of theConstitution and bifurcation of the state into Union territories, which willcome into being on October 31.

Singh, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, said even in theKashmir valley, while “certain families made a quick fortune overnight without any known sources of proportionate income”, the common man suffered in silence and was caught between terrorism on one hand and “state indifference” on theother.The Union Minister for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said since theUT of Jammu and Kashmir will come directly under the control of the Union HomeMinistry, there will not only be an equal distribution of government resources,but also accountability for the same.He said one of the greatest misfortunes of Jammu and Kashmir was the lack of transparency in governance and this too wouldgradually change for the better.

“The needless interference in the maintenance of law and order and the role of the vested interests would also gradually recede,” he said.The most important benefit, Singh said, would be the change in thepsychological attitude and mindset of the people of the region, with a greaterdegree of self- confidence and sense of belonging as citizens of India.

The benefits in terms of new breakthrough in highereducation, professional colleges, industry and self-livelihood opportunitieswere going to gradually unfold with the passage of time and their ultimatemagnitude was perhaps too difficult to imagine right now, he added.

At the social level, particularly for women, the “medievallegacy” would end with the introduction of progressive laws such as thosebanning triple talaq, child marriage and dowry, in addition to the right toparental property, which already stood restored after the abrogation of Article370, the minister said.