Jammu, Apr 24: Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Home Affairs has deferred its scheduled six-day visit, with effect from April 26 to May 1, 2025, to Jammu and Kashmir, in the aftermath of the reprehensible Pahalgam terror attack.
The PSC, with BJP MP from Rajya Sabha Radha Mohan Das Agarwal as its chairman, was also scheduled to visit parts of Ladakh, during this period.
The mandate of this panel is to critically evaluate domestic policy, internal security and decision-making of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
In J&K, the panel was scheduled to assess the border situation and preparedness of the troops mainly along the International Border besides security and related aspects and review of development projects.
Meetings with senior officers of the Home Department; Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP); Central Para Military Forces besides Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, other elected representatives and locals along the border areas and terrorism affected areas were also part of its tentative itinerary.
As per reports emanating from the union capital, the visits to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu; Gulmarg, Sonamarg in Kashmir and parts of Ladakh were also part of the itinerary of the parliamentary panel.
However, in the changed scenario following the dastardly killing of innocent civilians, the scheduled visit of the panel, its engagements and security requirements could have overstrained the civil and Police administration ñ is stated to be the reason behind deferring the scheduled visit of PSC on Home Affairs.
The 31-member PSC on Home Affairs has 21 Members from Lok Sabha while 10 Members are from Rajya Sabha.
Besides the chairman, its other members include Amrinder Singh Raja Warring; Anil Yeshwant Desai; Ashish Dubey; B Y Raghavendra; Chandrashekhar; Kalaben Mohanbhai Delkar; Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane; Dayanidhi Maran; Jai Parkash; Jyotirmay Singh Mahato; Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar; Kesineni Sivanath (Chinni); Krishna Prasad Tenneti; Mala Roy; Hamdullah Sayeed; Naveen Jindal; Satish Kumar; Priyanka Gandhi Vadra; Saumitra Khan; Supriya Sule; Vishnu Dayal Ram all from Lok Sabha.
It also comprises Ajay Makan; Derek O Brien; G K Vasan; Haris Beeran; Kapil Sibal; Nabam Rebia; Neeraj Shekhar; Samik Bhattacharya and Sanjay Yadav, all from Rajya Sabha. In connection with the visit of the PSC on Home Affairs, the J&K Government on April 19 had even appointed 25 officers as liaison officers ñ 10 officers for the Jammu division and 15 for the Kashmir division.
They were even directed to report to the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu and Divisional Commissioner Kashmir on April 23, 2025, for briefing on their roles and responsibilities. The entire J&K observed a complete shutdown on April 23 in protest against the dastardly selective killing and in solidarity with the victims of terror attacks.
