Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi begins Centre’s Kashmir outreach initiative

Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday said the purpose of Union ministers’ visit to Jammu and Kashmir was to get a firsthand account of the problems faced by people there and address their concerns, PTI reported. Naqvi is the first Union minister to visit Kashmir as part of the Centre’s outreach programme since its special constitutional status was scrapped in August.

While five of the ministers will visit parts of Kashmir, the rest will visit Jammu. Asked why that was so, Naqvi claimed the current outreach programme was just the beginning of the Centre’s efforts to engage with people in the Union Territory. “This is not the last programme,” he added. . “This initiative will continue.”

The minister said the objective of the dialogue was to listen to people’s problems and needs, and find solutions. “The aspirations and expectations of the people were not upheld and corruption had eaten into Jammu and Kashmir,” he told reporters in Srinagar. “Some people had benefited themselves but we want prosperity for all people here.”