By IANS,
Srinagar : Anxious to avoid another summer of unrest, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has begun an ambitious plan to interact with prominent citizens and members of civil society to get a sense of their concerns and problems.
Abdullah, who clearly does not want to depend entirely on his advisors, held his first interaction here Tuesday, spending over four hours discussing various issues with Right to Information (RTI) activists and others.
“Had a most useful interactive session with the prominent citizens of Srinagar. Got to make this a regular feature,” he wrote on his hotly followed Twitter microblog.
“Now plan a similar session with civil society/prominent citizens of Jammu,” he also posted.
Abdullah told the gathering that the best solution to the Kashmir problem would be the one acceptable to all.
He said the people must ensure that the coming summer passed off peacefully.
“Summer is crucial for Kashmiris. All of us have to ensure that lakhs of people associated with tourism, trade and allied activities are not deprived of their livelihood like the last three summers,” the chief minister said.
Abdullah also spoke about giving more teeth to the state anti-corruption organisation, said he would address the electricity woos of the people and promised to ensure that passports would be issued to the next of kin of those involved in militancy.
He spoke about modification to the state RTI act to address the concerns of the local activists.
“I have taken your suggestions must seriously,” he said.
The chief minister said the process of bunker removal would continue and would be directly linked to the overall improvement of the situation.
“Omar Abdullah has come a long way since last year’s summer unrest when he had to take a helicopter to reach a hospital where the injured persons were being treated in the city, barely five kilometres away from his official residence,” said a citizen who attended the interaction.