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Amid the ongoing severe cold wave conditions and a cold spell in the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday informed about his decision to cancel his scheduled programmes in Jammu and to remain stationed in Srinagar to oversee the working of the power and other departments.
Abdullah, who was returning from Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, said he would reach Srinagar by Friday morning to take stock of the situation in Kashmir. He said that the residents in the valley were facing difficulties with water and electricity supply given the severe cold spell which has gripped Kashmir. "In light of the severe cold spell in the Kashmir valley & the resultant difficulties with water & electricity supply, I have decided to cancel my forthcoming programmes in Jammu & station myself in Srinagar for the next week to personally monitor the functioning of the Power department & other important departments," Abdullah posted on X while travelling to Srinagar from Rajasthan's Jaisalmer. He assured that he would make up to the people and organisations whose programmes have been affected after he cancelled his visit to Jammu. "I do appreciate that cancelling my programmes in Jammu will cause some inconvenience to the organisers & I regret the same. However, under the circumstances this is the right thing to do & I will make it up to the people/organisations whose programmes have been affected," Abdullah said. Earlier, CM Abdullah clarified that the proposed GST hike for the Kashmir Shawl was not taken up during the 55th meeting of the GST Council. The 55th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was held in Jaisalmer of Rajasthan on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Coming as a relief for the artisans of the J&K, Omar Abdullah told reporters here after the meeting, "Some things were agreed on, some things were deferred. There had been a lot of speculation that GST on shawls particularly Pashmina shawls will be hiked, so we had come prepared to ensure that wouldn't happen." The J&K CM underscored that any hike on the Kashmiri Shawl would badly hit the Pashmina Shawl industry. "Thankfully, it wasn't taken up and we will also ensure that in the future, something like this is not considered because it would be life-threatening to our Pashmina shawl industry...," CM Omar Abdullah said. This came hours after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supremo Mehbooba Mufti requested CM Abdullah to clear his position on the proposed GST hike on Kashmiri Shawl. (ANI)
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