Srinagar: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday advised the parliamentary standing committees to undertake regular study tours of far-flung areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh as well as the northeastern states and suggest possible solutions for mitigation of grievances of local people.

Birla stated this during his week-long visit to the Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as part of the parliamentary outreach programme for strengthening the Panchayati Raj institutions.

Addressing panchayat leaders from across Jammu and Kashmir, Birla said with the holding of local elections in the union territory, democracy has strengthened at the grassroots level and democratic institutions have become more answerable to people.

Jammu and Kashmir is moving towards peace, prosperity and development. And I invite all panchayat leaders to visit parliament in the national capital. The Lok Sabha Secretariat will organise training and capacity-building programmes for you, Birla said.

Later at a press conference, Birla said he would advise all parliamentary committees to regularly visit remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the northeastern states.

I would suggest all parliamentary standing committees to regularly go on study visits to far-flung areas of UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and north-eastern states. The aim of these visits would be to understand the ground realities and suggest possible solutions for mitigating grievances of the local people, Birla said.

During his visit, Birla visited remote areas of both UTs such as Pangong Tso Lake and Pahalgam and interacted with local panchayat leaders. He is scheduled to visit Gulmarg on Wednesday.

In the last few months, 13 parliamentary committees and more than 300 MPs have visited the Kashmir valley and more than 200 MPs have visited Ladakh.

Press Trust of India