JAMMU, Dec 31: Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, has scheduled a high-level meeting for January 2 in New Delhi to discuss the security and development situation in Jammu and Kashmir, with special attention to the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. On December 27, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Rajouri and presided over a high-level meeting to assess the situation in the two districts.The heads of paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Home Secretary AK Bhalla, top MHA officials handling Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Home RK Goyal, Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain, and Additional DGP Law & Order Vijay Kumar are among those anticipated to attend the meeting.According to officials, there may be two sessions: one focused on development projects, and the other probably on the state of law and order, particularly in the districts of Rajouri and Poonch, where 19 soldiers have died in four incidents this year. On the other hand, security forces have also killed almost thirty terrorists, both in the hinterland and along the Line of Control (LoC). This will be the Union Home Minister’s first significant assessment of the security and development conditions in Jammu and Kashmir in 2024, and it may well determine the course of the year’s anti-militancy and development initiatives.“The meeting will examine the security situation throughout Jammu and Kashmir, with a particular focus on the increase in terror attacks in Rajouri and Poonch districts this year and the necessary actions to eradicate the approximately thirty terrorists who may be hiding in the Pir Panjal mountains, forests, and other susceptible areas,” the officials stated. According to some reports, security forces could work together to carry out large-scale operations aimed at neutralising terrorists. Numerous such operations have already begun, and since more troops have already arrived in Rajouri and Poonch, they will probably intensify.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Rajouri on December 27 and spoke with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and senior Army Commanders about the events that followed the terror attack on December 21 at Dera Ki Gali in the Surankote area of Poonch district, which resulted in the deaths of four soldiers and three civilians the following day for unknown reasons. According to the officials, the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), among other Centrally Sponsored Schemes and ongoing development projects in Jammu and Kashmir, will be reviewed during the Home Minister’s meeting.“After August 2019, a number of development projects, including those managed by the Union Territory Government and those with central funding, are being carried out in Jammu and Kashmir. The officials stated that all of these will be reviewed and that the projects are currently on track to be completed within the allotted time frames. The Lieutenant Governor had just said yesterday that Kashmir will have rail access to the rest of the world by the beginning of next year. The second train of its kind on the Delhi-Katra route, the Vande Bharat train was virtually launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday from Ayodhya. After the Valley rail link is finished, Third Vande Bharat will travel the Jammu-Srinagar-Baramulla route.
