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Home Minister Amit Shah likely to visit J&K this month
During the tour, Amit Shah is expected to interact with various stakeholders, review certain projects and also take stock of law and order situation.
New Delhi: In his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since article 370, which somewhat gave special status, was scrapped on August 5, 2019, union home minister is set to travel to the erstwhile state as part of Centre’s mega-outreach programme and to review the development schemes, people familiar with the development said.
He is likely to be on a three-day tour between October 23 and 25, but the dates can change as well, said the officials cited above. During the tour, Shah is expected to interact with various stakeholders, review certain projects and also take stock of law and order situation.
Several members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers have travelled to the newly carved union territory in last four-five weeks as part of the public outreach programme. These include Narendra Singh Tomar, G Kishan Reddy, and John Barla among others.
During his trip, Shah will visit remote areas of the Kashmir valley and the Jammu region during which he is also likely to interact with public.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre effectively revoked Article 370, which bestowed special status to the erstwhile state, and Article 35A, which barred non-locals from buying or owning immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir, settling there permanently, or availing benefits of state-sponsored scholarship schemes. The constitutional provision acknowledged the special status of the (then) state of Jammu and Kashmir in terms of autonomy and its ability to formulate laws for the state’s permanent residents.
Shah visited the erstwhile state in June 2019, immediately after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by PM Modi swept to power for the second term.
Last month, he held a top-level review meeting on J&K with the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and senior security officials including the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. He also reviewed various development initiatives being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, including the ₹80,000 crore package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.
The home minister has said in the past that all-round development and welfare of the people of the Union Territory are on top priority list of the government.
In June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited J&K leaders including Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti at his residence in Delhi, during which they demanded restoration of special status of J&K.
