Focusing on the development in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is all set to begin its mega outreach programme in J&K from Monday, October 10. Notably, this is the third edition of the Modi government’s J&K outreach programme post Article 370 abrogation.
In this outreach programme, over 65 ministers of the NDA government in the Centre will be visiting all 20 districts of J&K in October and November. All the visiting ministers are asked to review the status of the development projects in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, prepare a report on it and then submit the report to the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Home Affairs.
Accordingly, several ministers of PM Modi’s cabinet including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be visiting J&K in a phase-wise manner. Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs John Barla will kick off the outreach programme by visiting Baramulla and Ramban respectively from October 10 to 12. In addition to this, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel is scheduled to visit the Ganderbal district from October 12-13. Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal will also visit Ganderbal on October 27-28.
Modi govt’s mega J&K outreach programmeNotably, this is the third edition of the PM Modi government’s J&K outreach programme following the abrogation of Article 370 from the Union Territory. The first edition of the J&K outreach of the Modi Cabinet begin when 36 Union Ministers visited Jammu and Kashmir in January 2020.
In the second edition of this outreach programme, 70 Union Ministers of the Modi government visited J&K in September- October of the last year. It is pertinent to mention that this third edition comes after the recent visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the union territory in October.