Chidambaram to led 36-member delegation to J&K

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will lead a 36-member all-party parliamentary delegation on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir beginning next Monday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal will also be assisting the home minister. He will be alternate leader of the delegation.

The delegation will have four members from the Congress, four from the Bharatiya Janata Party and equal representation to eight political parties in both houses of Parliament.

The delegation will leave New Delhi and arrive in Srinagar on Monday. They will also visit Jammu and return on Wednesday afternoon.

On Monday, the delegation will interact with locals in the afternoon and with senior officials in the evening. On Monday, the delegation will stay in Srinagar.

On Tuesday morning, the delegation will leave for Jammu. In the morning they will interact with the locals and evening meet government officials and stay there overnight.

The Prime Minister's Office wants the delegation to engage a chartered Indian Airlines aircraft which is remodelled with only economy class. The PMO instructed the state administration that the safety and security of the all-party delegation is the responsibility of the DGP and chief secretary.

Extra precautionary measures have been taken for the all-party delegation to interact with nearly 250 to 300 local people drawn from various violence-prone areas of the state.

Six senior officials of the Union home ministry, security officials and translators will be accompanying the delegation.