Delegation of 36 Union Ministers to visit Jammu and Kashmir today

A delegation of 36 Union Ministers from the Narendra Modi-led NDA government will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the subsequent bifurcation of the erstwhile state into a Union Territory. Consisting of both Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State (MoS), the team will directly address the people of J&K to get a measure of the current situation.

The delegation of Union Ministers include Smriti Irani (Minister of Women and Child Development), Dr Jitendra Singh (MoS for Development of North Eastern Region), Anurag Singh Thakur (MoS for Finance), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Union Minister of Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology), General VK Singh (MoS for Road Transport and Highways), Kiren Rijiju (MoS for Youth Affairs and Sports), Hardeep Singh Puri (MoS for Civil Aviation), Ramesh Pokhiryal (Union Minister of Human Resource Development) and several others.

According to sources, the Union Ministers are set to visit every corner of the Union Territory for the entire duration of the next week to learn about the problems of the people and to get a better hold of the situation.

The ministers are enthusiastic about the visit to J&K in such a large group, hoping that the team members will hear their problems and address them. 

During his first term in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had successfully organised regular visits of the Union Ministers to the northeastern states to assess the conditions of the people. However, during his second term, the Prime Minister is now going the extra mile and sending a team of 36 Union Ministers to the Kashmir valley for a week. A total of 59 visits for 36 Union ministers have been planned. Out of this, 51 trips are planned for Jammu while other eight are in Srinagar. 

Earlier this month, a delegation of 15 foreign envoys had also met civil society representatives and community leaders in Jammu. The delegation had arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on January 9 and had also met political leaders and senior Army officials in Srinagar. The purpose of the visit was to observe the government’s efforts in bringing normalcy to the valley.

The message has been sent loud and clear to the people that the central government is committed to their development.