SRINAGAR, May 27: In an unusual move the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet has decided to hold its next meeting in a remote area of the border state.
A new beginning will be made when the state Cabinet meets on May 30 at Karnah, a remote village in Kupwara district, 160 km from here, located near the Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir.
By holding the meeting away from the seat of the government in capital Srinagar, the ministers attempt to reach out to people of remote areas.
“The logic behind the decision of holding Cabinet meetings in this manner was to take the government to the doorstep of people in such areas where people sometimes feel disconnected from the decision making process,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was quoted by wire agency PTI as saying.
Decisions on matters relating to development works in remote areas are expected to be taken up at the meeting.
After Karnah, there is a proposal to hold such meetings in remote villages like Gurez and Machil areas, officials said.
It is perhaps for the first time that the state cabinet meeting is being held outside the Civil Secretariat or the Chief Minister’s residence, they said.
The proposal to hold a meeting in a remote area was mooted by the Chief Minister himself during the previous Cabinet meeting here last week. It was unanimously accepted and appreciated by other ministers.
Besides attending cabinet meeting, ministers and senior officials will also hold deliberations to review the ongoing development work in these remote regions.
