Parliamentary Committee holds meeting with stakeholders over J&K's all-round development

On Thursday, a parliamentary delegation, which is on a three-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir said that the all-round development of the valley is the main goal of the Centre. Consultations with stakeholders on how to resolve problems being faced by the residents of the UT were also discussed during the meeting.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture delegation headed by Rajya Sabha member T G Venkatesh also held meetings on the promotion of transport, tourism and culture in the union territory, an official spokesman said. The visit is a first of its kind after the COVID-19 outbreak. The meeting was also attended by the Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh and Member of Parliament from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah, the spokesman said.

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The committee's chairman T G Venkatesh said that the all-round development of the Union Territory is a major goal of the central government and the committee is on a visit to understand the problems of the residents of J-K and to resolve them.

“The committee is here to listen to the stakeholders about constraints specifically being faced by them in sectors like road, transport and what measures are needed to be taken to ensure that the highways in J-K match international best standards and road safety measures being taken in J-K,” he said.

The committee will also take stock of the promotion of tourism sector vis-à-vis tapping domestic tourism, promotion of rural and adventure tourism, hotel infrastructure and development of highways for better connectivity, the chairman said.

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The delegation held meetings with the stakeholders to review and examine the status of national and state highways, potential and promotion of the tourism sector and preservation of archaeological and heritage sites in Jammu and Kashmir. During the meeting, the delegation also discussed the development of road, railway and air connectivity. 

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Demands of Stakeholders

The stakeholders demanded better road connectivity, as due to frequent suspension of both road and air connectivity particularly the closure of the Srinagar- Jammu highway during the winter months people face problems. A number of issues and demands were raised by the stakeholders before the committee, including the revival and renovation of houseboats, uninterrupted power supply to hotels, financial packages for artisans, rising unemployment graph due to adversely affected tourism sector, need for a cap on airfare, train connectivity, promotion of tourist destinations, round the clock functioning and better facilities at the Srinagar International Airport, cultural and adventure sports and medical tourism promotion, preservation of cultural and heritage, enhancement in central government funds, revival and restoration of lakes and other water bodies and better road connectivity across all tourist destinations.

The committee members assured that all genuine issues would be taken into consideration and will be resolved.

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(With PTI Inputs)