Union ministers submit reports to PMO on implementation of welfare schemes in J&K

More than 30 Union ministers, who visited Jammu and Kashmir last month, have submitted their feedback to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the implementation of various development schemes there, officials said on Wednesday.

As many as 37 central ministers visited Jammu and Kashmir to assess the ground situation and interact with people on various development schemes.

Over 30 of them have submitted their reports to the Home Ministry and those were forwarded to the PMO recently, a government official said.

The reports were primarily on how the welfare schemes were being implemented and the issues on which the Centre and the Union territory administration should focus on for optimum results, the official added.

The reports were given in a proforma so that action could be taken on the basis of the feedback.

The central ministers visited Jammu and Kashmir following a directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wanted an honest assessment of the various welfare schemes being implemented in the newly-created Union territory.

Among those who visited Jammu and Kashmir were Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, ministers of state for home G Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai.

The ministers only spoke about the development initiatives and there was no reference to political issues, the official said.

Interacting with the locals, they got first-hand information about the roads, healthcare facilities, power situation, functioning of academic institutions etc. in the Union territory.

There were two sets of feedback -- one on the initiatives taken by the UT administration and the other on the Centre's initiatives -- another official said.

Most of the central ministers stayed overnight at their respective places of visit such as Baramulla, Ganderbal, Doda, besides others.

In August last year, the Centre abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into Union territories.

Since then, the Centre has been closely monitoring the on-the-ground implementation of various development programmes there.

Jammu and Kashmir is currently under the President's rule.