Parliamentary panel to visit J&K in first week of July

Srinagar: In a significant development, a parliamentary panel is scheduled to undertake a study tour of Kashmir Valley in the first week of July. This is the first such visit following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives, most of them tourists.

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, will tour Srinagar as part of its multi-city itinerary that includes Mumbai and Coorg.

Ahead of the visit of the panel, the Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed S.P. Rukwal, Director of Geology and Mining, as coordinator of the visit.

According to an official order accessed by news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Rukwal will oversee all logistical, administrative, and protocol-related arrangements.

Two other officers from the Mining Department will work in coordination with the Lok Sabha Secretariat to ensure the success of the visit, the order reads.

The visit assumes significance as it will be first visit of a parliamentary panel to Kashmir following April 22 Baisaran attack in which 26 civilians were killed by terrorists.

After the terror attack, parliamentary panels had stopped visiting Kashmir. Three such panels- Department-related Standing Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing & Urban Affairs and Joint Parliamentary Committee on “One Nation, One Election” had cancelled/ abandoned their plans to visit J&K. —(KNO)