Centre's outreach: 70 ministers to visit J&K over 9 weeks
As part of the Centre's outreach program, 70 Union Ministers will reportedly visit Jammu and Kashmir over the next nine weeks. The ministers will have to submit a report to the Home Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office after their visit, sources told NDTV. This is the second large-scale outreach push by the Centre since it repealed J&K's special status in 2019.
Ministers to have direct interaction with people, administration
During their visit, the ministers will interact with the people, administration, and representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), and address the challenges they are facing. They will also try to allay the fears of locals that their rights have been snatched with the revocation of J&K's special status. Notably, 28 ministers will visit in the first phase of the outreach program.
Agriculture Minister, his deputies visited J&K yesterday
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and his two deputies—Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje—already visited the Union Territory on Thursday. They reportedly interacted with farmers, agriculture scientists, and other stakeholders regarding various welfare measures and policies.
10 ministers to visit J&K over next 7 days
Further, at least eight ministers will visit the UT every week from September 10 onwards, NDTV reported. Ten of them will reportedly make their visits over the next seven days. They include junior Tourism Minister Ajay Bhatt, junior Minority Affairs Minister John Barla, and junior Communications Minister Devusinh Chauhan. Also scheduled are Union Ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, Som Parkash, and Krishan Pal.
Two Cabinet ministers likely to visit this week
Reportedly, two Cabinet ministers—MSME Minister Narayan Rane and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda—will also visit J&K this week. While Rane is expected to go on Wednesday, Munda will visit on Thursday and Friday.
36 Union Ministers visited J&K last year
In fact, this is the second such mega outreach effort by the Centre. Last year, 36 Union Ministers had visited J&K as part of the Centre's direct outreach to the people of J&K. Recently, members of 13 Parliamentary Standing Committees (PSCs) had also visited J&K and Ladakh. Separately, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was on a week-long tour of Ladakh and Kashmir in August.
