JAMMU, June 26: Following return of normalcy in the Valley after April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, the Parliamentary Standing Committees (PSCs), whose visits to Jammu and Kashmir were cancelled, have now resumed their tours. First in the series of visits is the Parliamentary Panel on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice which will visit the UT from June 28 to July 1.
The Committee is headed by BJP MP Brij Lal.
“The Committee will review functioning of Right to Information Act, 2005 and judicial infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir during an interaction with Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and other senior officers of the Union Territory administration,’’ official sources told the Excelsior.
As per schedule and agenda of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law & Justice released by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, the Panel will also have interaction with the management of certain Public Sector Undertakings on “Effectiveness of Vigilance Administration’’.
The Committee is also scheduled to meet Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Anshul Garg and other officers of the Board for discussion on ‘Effective Redressal of Grievances by Strengthening the Public Grievances Redressal System’’.
The Committee will be in Jammu initially for two days and will then leave for Srinagar.
The visit of PSC on Personnel, Public Grievance and Law & Justice will be followed by the six-day tour of the Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel to Jammu and Kashmir from July 5-10.
The Committee is headed by BJP MP and former Minister Anurag Singh Thakur.
Meanwhile, the Centre is planning a high-level review meeting in Pahalgam on July 7 and 8 which will be organised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and attended by Tourism Secretaries from all the States.
The meeting is being held in Pahalgam to give a clear message to the people and tourists that the destination is safe and they need not to worry, sources said.
The Committee on ‘One Nation, One Election’ is also expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir though it has not given any dates so far. Jammu and Kashmir was among four States/UTs, the Committee had proposed to cover in Phase-I.
“Had the Parliamentary Committees started their visits in the month of April, many such Panels would have visited Jammu and Kashmir on study tours but because of Pahalgam terror attack followed by Operation Sindoor, the visits were deferred,” the sources said.
Twenty six civilians including 25 tourists and a local were killed by the terrorists at Baisaran in Pahalgam. The Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure and military establishments deep inside Pakistan and PoJK from May 6-10 killing large number of terrorists and destroying terror camps.
The PSC on Home Affairs which had finalized its six-day visit from April 26 had deferred the visit in view of Pahalgam attack while rest of the Panels which planned to visit the UT had also postponed their schedule.
More Committees are expected to visit J&K but since Monsoon session of Parliament is less than a month away, only few Committees may visit while rest are expected to plan their tours after August 15,” the sources said.
