HM Amit Shah arrives in Jmu, meets various deputations

Jammu, Oct 03: Union Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah arrived here on Monday on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
HM Shah arrived in the evening and was received at the airport by Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha and Union minister Jitendra Singh.
Among others present were top administrative and police officers, including Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, DGP Dilbagh Singh, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, and J&K BJP core group members including J&K BJP incharge Tarun Chugh, State President Ravinder Raina, Sunil Sethi, Sat Sharma (CA), Shakti Raj Parihar, Devinder Kumar Manyal, Dr Nirmal Singh, Dr Narendra Singh, Kavinder Gupta, Surjit Singh Slathia, Devinder Singh Rana and other leaders.
Thereafter, Amit Shah left for Raj Bhawan in Jammu, where he met several deputations, including Yuva Rajput Sabha’s led by former MLC Ajat Shatru Singh and Sabha president Rajan Singh Happy, Gujjar Bakerwal, Gaddi, Sippi and Kohli communities’ delegation led by newly elected MP, Ghulam Ali Khatana, and Pahari speaking people’s delegation led by former MLC Vivodh Gupta.
A delegation of remote Paddar area led by DDC member Hari Krishan and a Sikh community delegation of Ramgarh led by DDC member of the area, Sarabjeet Singh Johal, also met the Union Home Minister at the Jammu Raj Bhawan.
The deputation of Gujjar Bakerwal, Gaddi, Sippi and Kohli communities led by Member Parliament Ghulam Ali Khatana thanked the Union Home Minister Amit Shah for providing political reservation to the tribal communities, implementation of Forest Rights Act in the UT, and other tribal schemes for the welfare of the tribal communities.
“I represented all the tribal communities and thanked the Union Home Minister on their (tribal communities’) behalf,” said MP Ghulam Ali Khatana.
According to former president of Yuva Rajput Sabha, Surinder Singh (Gilli), their delegation thanked the Union Home Minister for announcing a holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh and demanded constitution of Rajput Welfare Boards in the UT, issuance of Dogra certificates, and renaming of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology as Bawa Jitto Agricultural University.
As per sources, the Pahari speaking community’s delegation led by former MLC Vivodh Gupta requested the Union Home Minister for considering the Social Welfare Board’s recommendation of providing ST status to Pahari speaking communities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Paddar and Ramgarh delegations sought development of their respective areas. The Sikh community delegation demanded inclusion of Punjabi as an official language of J&K and highlighted several other important issues.
As per officials, Amit Shah will stay in Jammu Raj Bhawan tonight and reach Katra tomorrow at 8: 30 am to pay obeisance at the cave shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi at 9:30 am.
Thereafter, he will address a public rally at New Bus Stand Rajouri at 11: 30 am and in the evening, he will lay the foundation stone of various projects and inaugurate several other developmental projects from Jammu.
In the Rajouri rally, HM Shah is expected to announce ST reservation to Pahari speaking people. From Jammu Convention Centre, the Union Home Minister will leave for Srinagar on October 4th evening.
On October 5th, Shah will address another rally in Srinagar, where he’ll also meet LG Manoj Sinha and review security and law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir with top brass of army, CRPF, JKP and other security forces. At around 12 noon, he will address another rally in north Kashmir’s Baramulla area followed by which he will reach Srinagar Airport from where he will leave for New Delhi.
Welcoming the visit of the home minister, the Jammu and Kashmir Gujjar Bakerwals Organisations Coordination Committee appreciated the steps taken by the BJP-led Centre for the betterment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in general and that of the STs in particular.
“For the last 30 years, no central or state government implemented the law relating to the STs in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the current government that provided political reservation and implemented the Forest Rights Act in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” convenor of the committee Anwar Choudhary told reporters here.