Submission likely in next few days
*Area, population, other factors taken into account
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 12: All 20 District Development Commissioners (DDCs) in Jammu and Kashmir are giving final touch to the plans for 2026-27 to submit them to the Finance Department headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for approval.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Deputy Commissioners-cum-DDCs are close to finalizing the District Capex (Capital Expenditure) budget and are expected to submit them to the Finance Department within the next few days, most likely by May 15, which is virtually the deadline for doing so.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds charge of the Finance and Planning Development and Monitoring Department and had presented his second successive budget on February 6 this year, will approve the plans followed by review meetings at the district levels.
There are 20 districts in the Union Territory but their area, population and various other factors taken into account for annual budget, vary drastically. While some districts have large population and areas; others including some new districts are not only small in area-wise but also have very less population, the sources pointed out.
As per the Government directive, the DCs have taken the MLAs into confidence while drafting the District Capex Budget. Besides MLAs, there are five Lok Sabha and four Rajya Sabha MPs in Jammu and Kashmir. Rest all other institutions including the District Development Councils (DDCs), Block Development Councils (BDCs), Panchayats and Municipalities have been rendered defunct.
In their five-year term, the District Capex used to be finalized by the District Development Councils (DDCs). These bodies, however, completed their five-year term on February 24 this year and now the district plans are being readied by the DCs as fresh elections were not held to the DDCs.
Prior to the DDCs, which came into effect from February 2021, there used to be District Development Boards headed by the Chief Minister and Ministers till 2018 when the last PDP-BJP Government collapsed resulting into the Central rule.
While the DDCs finalized district Capex on their own, it was only in 2025-26 that the MLAs became part of the plans after Assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in September-October, 2024.
It may be mentioned here that the Finance Department has laid significant emphasis on prioritization of ongoing works, mandating that at least 70 percent of the Capex allocation be utilized for completion of ongoing projects and 30 percent may be earmarked for new works.
As per the sources, this step was aimed at preventing spread of resource thinly over a number of years, ensure timely completion of projects and to avoid starting large number of under-funded works.
“The timeline for completion of new works has been fixed between one to two years, extendable up to three years only in exceptional cases involving mega projects,” the sources said, adding that all spillover and ongoing works expected to be completed during 2026-27 or shortly thereafter shall be treated as the first charge on the Capital Expenditure budget.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
