Manmohan Singh likely to visit Jammu Kashmir next month

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to travel to Jammu and Kashmir next month, before which the centre will assess why benefits extended to the state had not reached displaced Kashmiri Pandits. This will be Singh's first visit to the state in the second tenure.

This indication about Singh's visit came today when a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits met National Security Adviser MK Narayanan to apprise him about the plight of the community displaced from the valley due to militancy.

The delegation of Panun Kashmir, a frontline organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, told Narayanan that the community was being neglected both by the Centre and the state government and benefits extended to the state did not reach them.

The delegation said if the central government did not care about the community, it should officially state that it cannot do anything, said Panun Kashmir spokesman Kamal Hak. Narayanan said he would find out why the benefits had not reached the community and that the exercise would be completed before the Prime Minister travels to the state next month.

Many of the Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to leave the valley from 1989 onwards due to militancy, have been living in pitiable conditions in camps in Jammu, Delhi and some other places.