J&K CM Omar Abdullah starts work from winter capital Jammu, visits ministers’ chambers
Omar Abdullah became the first Chief Minister to step inside the Civil Secretariat of Jammu since the erstwhile state became a Union Territory (UT) in 2019. Omar met the Ministers and staff inside the secretariat and also held meetings with the officials of different departments.
Abdullah was accorded a rousing welcome at the secretariat in Jammu upon his arrival to assume office in the winter capital. This marked his first official visit to the Jammu secretariat since taking over the office as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on October 16 in Srinagar.
Abdullah was greeted by his Council of ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary and cabinet members Sakeena Masood Itoo, Javed Ahmad Rana, Javid Ahmad Dar and Satish Sharma.
Adviser to the Chief Minister, Nasir Aslam Wani, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, Dheeraj Gupta, other senior officials and staff of the Civil Secretariat were also present to receive him.
An official informed that in a gesture of camaraderie, the Chief Minister visited the chambers of his ministers to formally welcome them, reflecting his commitment to fostering a collaborative working environment. During his visit, Chief Minister also inspected the ongoing construction of the new Assembly complex.
The Chief Minister toured the complex, where officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) Roads & Buildings (R&B) Division provided a detailed briefing on the project’s various stages, timeline and next steps.
Omar Abdullah also held a meeting with the officials of the Tourism Department where he was informed that 1.98 crore tourists have visited J&K till October this year. The number of tourists in 2023 was 2.11 crore and
in 2022 it was 1.88 crore, he was informed.
Omar had last visited the Civil Secretariat in Jammu as a chief minister in 2014 after which PDP came to the power with Mehbooba Mufti as the chief minister. PDP led J&K government collapsed after its alliance partner BJP withdrew support in June 2018. In August 2019, the Central government bifurcated J&K into two UTs, including Ladakh.
