Top brass of civil, police Admn from UT to attend
First interaction of New Year to focus on challenges
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 9: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be holding high-level review of security and development scenarios in Jammu and Kashmir with top brass of civil and police administration of the Union Territory on January 11 in the Union capital.
This will be first major review of terror incidents and ongoing development projects of Jammu and Kashmir by the Union Home Ministry this year.
Top officials of civil and police administration and Intelligence agencies from Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, other senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Incharge Jammu and Kashmir and heads of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are likely to attend the meeting.
“There has been no major killing in the Kashmir valley this year. On the other, Jammu and Kashmir Police with Army and other security forces have eliminated a number of militants in the Valley including many top commanders bringing number of active militants below 200 for the first time in many years,” sources pointed out and said the focus will also be on challenges ahead and how to tackle them.
However, during past couple of months, the militants had resorted to targeted killings of police personnel, minorities and outsiders which have been brought under control with the elimination of killers and their associates.
As per the sources, no agenda has been circulated for the meeting and, therefore, all issues pertaining to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will come up for discussions.
“Apart from security related issues, development of the Union Territory will also remain major focus area of the meeting. Jammu and Kashmir’s budget is also likely to be finalized next month before presentation in the Parliament,” sources said.
Jammu and Kashmir has, however, managed to attract investments to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore in the industrial sector under new Industry Development Scheme. Investments from Dubai where Jammu and Kashmir recently signed a number of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with big business houses and Rs 18,300 crore worth investment in real estate are in addition to Rs 45,000 crore.
“Ongoing developmental projects including those under the Prime Minister’s Development Plan (PMDP) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) are also likely to come up for review during the meeting,” sources said, adding that Jammu and Kashmir top brass will brief Amit Shah about progress of ongoing works.
While it is the Union Finance Ministry which finalizes the annual budget, the Union Home Ministry too has a major say as Jammu and Kashmir is now a Union Territory and most of its issues are looked after by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Annual budget of Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to be presented in the Parliament for third consecutive year in February-March budget session of the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Previous two budgets of Jammu and Kashmir were also presented in the Parliament in the absence of Legislative Assembly in the Union Territory. The budget of J&K for 2022-23 is expected to once again cross Rs one lakh crore depending on the spending during 2021-22 Financial Year, sources noted.
Situation prevailing along the International Border in Jammu is also expected to figure in the meeting convened by the Union Home Minister.
Few days back, the BSF had foiled two major infiltration attempts on the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Samba districts. While one intruder was killed on the border in Arnia sector, the BSF had recovered large quantity of arms, ammunition and narcotics including three AK rifles and four pistols at forward village of Chamliyal in Samba sector.
Following recoveries, the BSF had lodged major protest with the Pakistani Rangers over their attempts to facilitate infiltration attempts by the militants and drone operations.
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