Srinagar, April 11: Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta and Union Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, Apurva Chandra, today jointly chaired a meeting to review preparations for publicity to be carried out for the upcoming Shri Amarnathji Yatra (SANJY), scheduled to be organized from 30th June to 11th August, 2022.
The meeting had detailed deliberations on intensification of information dissemination campaigns throughout the yatra period this year for convenience of pilgrims. In this regard, several publicity activities have been planned by media units of the Union Ministry I&B in conjunction with J&K administration to be conducted throughout the period of pilgrimage.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Information Department, Rohit Kansal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry I&B, Vikram Sahay, CEO, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, Nitishwar Kumar, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, P.K Pole, ADGP, Security J&K, Principal Director General (News), All India Radio, N V Reddy, Director General, Doordarshan, Mayank Agrawal, Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau Srinagar, Rajinder Choudhry, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag and other senior officials both in person and online.
Elucidating religious significance of Shri Amarnathji Yatra, Chief Secretary remarked that the holy yatra represents composite culture of J&K. This historic pilgrimage is being always welcomed in the Valley by people who shower their hospitality and generosity on the pilgrims thronging the UT.
Chief Secretary said that this year’s Yatra will witness a record influx owing to better facilities and seamless journey experience for yatris.
Highlighting about several initiatives launched by J&K administration for smooth conduct of yatra, Dr. Mehta said that this time we are expecting around 6-8 lakh yatris and the UT is fully prepared for the same. He added that the administration has already established a transit accommodation for yatris at Ramban which can hold around 3000 yatris.
Chief Secretary said that development ecosystem of J&K is witnessing tremendous transformation since the past few years with completion of around 51000 projects till date. He added that the physical verification and GI tagging of all works has been made possible to ensure that the works are being done on ground without any kind of corruption or malpractice.
Dr. Mehta also highlighted that the J&K administration has completely moved to digital arena through e-office and all the HoDs as well as both wings of Civil Secretariat have been connected through it. He said that this has brought complete transparency in working culture of all the offices of J&K administration. He added that this unique system has also made an end to any chance of file misplacement in government offices.
Highlighting about other initiatives, Chief Secretary said that J&K administration has moved to mobile governance through ‘Our Office Your Mobile’ initiative for ease of living of citizens who can utilize different services through their mobile phones. He also added that under ‘Aapki Zameen Aapki Nigrani’, citizens can get details of their land through digital mode which, earlier, used to take months.
Union Secretary I&B, while addressing the meeting, said that publicity activities are being planned by different media units of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in conjunction with the J&K administration throughout the period of the pilgrimage. He added that Amarnath Ji Yatra activities will be projected throughout the country and there will also be focus on coverage of other tourism activities in the region. “There is a need to highlight achievements of the Centre and UT administration with respect to development projects done in J&K. We need to project such positive stories about the region throughout the country to spread the message of changing environs in the region which will further boost tourist inflow here,” he maintained. He said that six to eight lakh pilgrims are expected to participate in this year’s yatra.
Nitishwar Kumar shared an overview about the preparedness for the yatra saying that “We are expecting a two fold increase in yatra this year so the administration has also put in place preparations accordingly,”. He urged upon the media units to highlight the advisories for the yatris from time to time adding that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will be used this year to keep a track on location of the pilgrims. He also emphasized the need to thwart misconceptions being spread about the journey.
Union Joint Secretary, I&B, Principal DG AIR and Director General, Doordarshan also spoke on the occasion and highlighted various activities being carried out by their respective departments during the Pilgrimage.
