J&K CM Urges Tourists To Visit The State

Joy Roy Choudhury - Kolkata

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the chief minister of strife-torn Jammu & Kashmir has urged potential investors to invest in tourism related projects in the state. He assured support and security to the investors on behalf of the state administration. He also urged tourists to visit the state and give the state administration a chance to extend their hospitality. Sayeed was in Kolkata recently to participate in an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (Eastern Region).

The chief minister asserted that incidents of violence in the state have declined after a populist government took over the reins of the administration last year.

He said that the state would soon announce an industrial policy, which would be operational for the next five years. Besides the industrial policy, the state as well as the Centre announced sops and concessions for industrial units including tourism related ones setting up industries in the state. The chief minister admitted that infrastructure and power are bottlenecks for the growth of the industry. But the new government is addressing these problems, he added.

Sayeed said J&K has played host to important people like the president, the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and chief ministers of 15 Congress ruled states.

According to him, the Valley as well as the Jammu and Ladakh regions of the state were safe tourist destinations after two decades of militancy.

He said, “Tourists prefer a secure atmosphere to enjoy a holiday so they avoided Kashmir for almost two decades due to turmoil in the Valley. But since May this year, about 1.5 lakh tourists have visited the Valley and 1.4 lakh pilgrims have made a safe journey to Amarnath. Moreover, 36 lakh pilgrims have so far visited the Mata Vaishnodevi Temple, at Jammu.”

Mufti said that the law and order situation in the state is as normal as any other state of the country. He promised to hold talks with Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar to provide more trains to Jammu from different parts of the country so that more and more tourists can visit the state.