NC to support Mufti in getting financial aid: Farooq

JAMMU: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has pledged to support his successor Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in getting a good financial package from the Central government.
Farooq said that he would direct his son, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah, to back Mufti in his endeavour to get the package from the Centre as his resignation had not been accepted so far.
Liberal financial assistance would help the state in tiding over the difficult times it had been going through of late, Farooq said, adding the new government should make efforts to revive industries.
It was not possible to give government jobs to all the aspirants and the youth of the state could be absorbed in large numbers in industries if the government succeeded in encouraging entrepreneurs, he asserted.
Incidentally, Sayeed is scheduled to meet top Central leaders within the next few days to press the demand for a financial package to help his ''healing touch'' process.
Farooq was addressing a public function after inaugurating a Maruti outlet set up by a local entrepreneur here. The new unit employs over 200 youths in different departments. Speaking on the occasion Farooq said that such ventures needed to be promoted by the state government as they provided employment at no extra cost to the government.
Maruti Udyog managing director Jagdish Khattar was also present on the occasion and praised the unit owner, Devinder Singh Rana, who had received this year''s best entrepreneur award from the car company.
In his address, Khattar said that Maruti Udyog had sold more units in Jammu and Kashmir than in other areas. The average sales of Maruti in the state had been better than the car company''s overall performance at the national level, he said.
Omar, who made a brief and witty speech, thanked Rana for inviting him to inaugurate the unit though he had lost the election. He said that he still cherished the dream of leading the state one day, implying though he had come to terms with the electoral defeat, he had high hopes for the future. However, Omar declined to make any political comments.