New Delhi, July 23
The Centre today formally announced the appointment of BJP General Secretary and former Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley as its representative to discuss the issue of devolution of powers regarding Jammu and Kashmir.
As the Centre’s representative, Mr Jaitley will hold talks with the Jammu and Kashmir Government and political parties there on the issue of devolution of greater powers to the state.
Mr Jaitley’s appointment order was issued by the Department of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs of the Home Ministry yesterday and made public today. The order, signed by Joint Secretary Rakesh Hooja, said the appointment of Mr Jaitley would be on a purely honorary basis.
“Though no formal proposal has been received, the issue of devolution of powers to Jammu and Kashmir was discussed by the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister on June 24. It was decided that a representative of the Centre would have discussions with the state government,” Minister of State for Home Vidyasagar Rao told the Lok Sabha during question hour.
“It has been subsequently decided that Mr Jaitley would be holding discussions as a representative of the Government of India,” Mr Rao said in reply to a written question.
In reply to another question, he said the government was not considering any proposal for deletion or modification of Article 370 of the Constitution. “As such, the question of examination of implications of retention of this article does not arise”, he stated.
Mr Jaitley would not have any time frame for carrying out the exercise, he added.
The announcement about Mr Jaitley’s appointment had been made on July 16 by the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, during a discussion on an adjournment motion on Jammu and Kashmir regarding the Qasim Nagar killings.
Mr Advani had said that while the Union Cabinet had rejected the autonomy resolution of the state, which had demanded a return to the pre-1953 position, it was conscious of the need for greater devolution of powers to states.
