PM to go ahead with Srinagar tour

Despite the terror attack in Srinagar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will go ahead with his proposed visit to Kashmir on Tuesday.

Singh will undertake a two-day visit along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to Jammu and Kashmir. He is expected to announce a package for the border areas of the state. The package is meant for development and reconstruction of the border areas, sources said, while refusing to reveal details of the “gift.” There was no change in the prime minister’s programme, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said.  The prime minister and Gandhi would also launch a train service between Qazigund in Kashmir and Banihal in Jammu, providing an all-weather surface link to the Valley that often gets cut off from the rest of the country in the winter due to heavy snowfall.

During his tour, Singh would also take stock of the implementation of the Rs 37,000-crore reconstruction package for the state he had sanctioned in 2004 under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan.

The plan involves 67 projects and schemes covering 11 sectors of the economy, including the expansion of infrastructure and basic services and employment generation.