New Delhi, April 20: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday held a series of meetings with central leadership, including Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, to take stock of the political and law and order situation in the state.
During his meeting with the Prime Minister, Omar apprised him about the steps being taken by the state government for socio-economic development, maintainance of peace and tranquility, holding of panchayat elections, recently- concluded elections to Legislative Council and the prevailing politico-economic scenario in the state.
The status and progress of the dialogue process between the interlocutors on Kashmir and various shades of public opinion in the state was also discussed in the meeting.
Highlighting an early resolution of Kashmir’s political issues, Omar thanked the Prime Minister for his keen interest in the resolution of “political issues in a political manner” and development of Jammu and Kashmir on fast track.
The Prime Minister assured his full support to the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister for peace and development initiatives, a state government spokesman said.
Omar also underlined the need for enhancing the current year’s plan allocations for the state to ensure equitable and holistic development of all regions and sub-regions in the state and stressed on early implementation of C Rangarajan committee report to help address the unemployment problem.
During his meeting with the Congress President, Omar discussed various issues relating to the political and economic developments in the state and the two leaders reviewed the functioning of Congress-National Conference coalition and expressed satisfaction over cohesion and coordination between the two parties in dealing with matters of public interests and ensuring good governance.
Omar briefed Gandhi about the holding of non-party based panchayat elections after about 30 years with a view to transferring power to public representatives at grass roots and also elaborated on the initiatives of the state to transfer functions, functionaries and finances to the newly elected panchayats.
The UPA Chairperson reiterated her full support to Omar-led Government in addressing challenges on economic and political fronts.
Omar also met Home Minister P Chidambaram and deliberated on the issues pertaining to the measures aimed at maintenance of law and order and peace in the state.
The issues relating to Dogra Certificate were also taken stock of in the meeting.
The two leaders reviewed the peace initiatives and measures in place to maintain law and order. Measures to curb militancy in a coordinated manner were also discussed. Issues pertaining to AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act were also deliberated upon in the meeting.
–PTI