Goyal, Thakur, Sonowal, Mandaviya, Yadav among 36 more Ministers to tour J&K

Total goes up to 58, all 20 distts of UT covered

Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, Sept 14: The Central Government today cleared names of 36 more Ministers, 12 of them in the Cabinet rank, for visiting different areas of Jammu and Kashmir as part of Public Outreach-II Programme taking total number of Ministers who will be visiting the UT during eight-week long tour to 58. As many as 70 Union Ministers are expected to visit J&K, interacting with people listening to the issues faced by them and trying to get them addressed. They will submit their reports to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The MHA and PMO had already released schedule of 22 Ministers who have toured or will be touring Jammu and Kashmir during eight-week long public outreach while names of 36 more Ministers were announced today who will be visiting the Union Territory, taking total to 58. Sources said 12 more names might be announced later as 70 Ministers are scheduled to visit the UT. With 36 names, all 20 districts of J&K have been covered for visits by the Ministers. The outreach had started on September 10.
The Union Home Ministry has been finalizing schedule of the Ministers’ tour to J&K in consultations with Union MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh.
Twelve Cabinet Ministers who will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir, as per the second list released today, include Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Environment, Forest & Climate and Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Culture and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, Commerce & Industry and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister Parshottam Rupala, Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad, Social, Justice & Empowerment Minister Dr Varinder Kumar and Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath.
Visit of many senior Ministers like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane, Smriti Irani, Pashupati Kumar Paras and Dr Jitendra Singh has already been finalized while Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had visited Katra and Reasi yesterday as part of the Public Outreach-II. Agriculture Minister Narinder Singh Tomar has returned after three days visit to J&K. He was the first Minister to visit the UT from September 10 as part of the outreach programme.
Sarbananda Sonowal will be visiting Baramulla on September 16 and 17 while Mansukh Mandaviya will visit the same district on September 18 and 19. Mahendra Nath Pandey is tipped to tour parts of Kathua district on September 23 and 24 while Anurag Thakur will be in Ganderbal on September 26 and 27.
G Kishan Reddy is scheduled to tour Srinagar on September 30 and October 1. Dr Virendra Kumar will be visiting Samba district on October 4 and 5 while Parshotam Rupala will be in Udhampur district on October 7 and 8. Ram Chandra Prasad Singh will be visiting Jammu on October 7 and 8 while Bhupender Yadav is tipped to tour Bandipora district on October 9 and 10. Arjun Munda will also visit Bandipora on September 16 and 17.
Piyush Goyal will be in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on October 18 and 19 while Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will be in Srinagar on September 14 and 15.
Minister of State (MoS) for Road, Transport and Highways Gen VK Singh will visit South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on September 27 and 28 while MoS Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayanswamy and MoS for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta will also be touring South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on September 28 and 29 and September 27 and 28 respectively. MoS for Textiles and Railways Darshana Vikram Jardosh will also tour Kulgam on September 30 and October 1.
MoS Home Nityanand Rai will be in Kupwara district on September 29 and 30 and MoS Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu will visit Kishtwar district from September 25-27. MoS Education Dr Subhas Sarkar will tour Baramulla from September 30-October 2 while MoS Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma will be visiting Reasi district on October 2 and 3. MoS Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste will be in Kupwara on October 2 and 3.
MoS Coal and Mines Danve Raosaheb Dadarao is scheduled to visit Ramban district on October 4 and 5 while MoS Consumer Affairs and Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti will also tour the same district on October 5 and 6. Prof SP Singh Baghel, MoS Ministry of Law and Justice will tour Rajouri district on October 5 and 6 while MoS Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore will visit Kishtwar district from October 5-7.
MoS Shipping and Waterways and Tourism Shripad Yesso Naik is tipped to visit Doda district on October 7 and 8 while MoS Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil will be in Poonch on October 7 and 8. MoS Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Information and Broadcasting Dr L Murugan will visit Shopian district from October 8-10 while another MoS Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr Santee Kumar Balyan will tour Samba district on October 12 and 13.
MoS External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan will visit Doda district on October 12 and 13 and MoS Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba will be in Reasi on October 17 and 18. MoS Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shantanu Thakur will tour Anantnag district on October 20 and 21.
Another MoS in Ministry of Women and Child Development and AYUISH Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai will be in Srinagar while MoS Education Annpurna Devi will be in Anantnag on same dates of October 21 and 22.
MoS Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameshwar Teli will visit Doda district on September 16 and 17.
As per the sources, the Ministers on their return to New Delhi after visiting different parts of the Union Territory will submit their reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office just like 2020. The MHA and PMO had then forwarded issues raised by the people and pointed out by the Union Ministers in their reports to the Jammu and Kashmir for addressing them.
“Some of the issues which pertained to the Central Ministries were addressed by the Government of India while rest were referred to the J&K Government,” sources said.
Expressing confidence that the Public Outreach Programme-II will also prove successful just like the Outreach Programme-I, they said such tours by the Ministers had also proved highly successful in the North East also resulting into redressal of public grievances to quite an extent.
In 2020, 36 Central Ministers had visited the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from January 18-24 and toured several far off areas as well. They had submitted their recommendations to the MHA as well as PMO then and issues raised by the people were addressed by the Central and the UT Governments.
The Public Outreach-II was earlier schedule to take place in the months of July and August but was deferred because of the Monsoon session of Parliament followed by 75th Independence Day celebrations.
It may be mentioned here that during past few days, 13 Parliamentary Standing Committees (PSCs) comprising around 300 Members of Parliament (MPs) have visited the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also on a week-long tour of Ladakh and Kashmir while a number of Ministers have also visited Leh.