FD gives concurrence to PWD proposal
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Jan 16: After JK Cements, Government of Jammu and Kashmir is all set to wind up J&K Projects Construction Corporation Ltd (JKPCC) as Finance Department has given its formal consent for the same.
Authoritative sources told the Excelsior that Finance Department has accorded its principle concurrence to the formal move by Public Works (R&B) Department regarding winding up of JKPCC, subject to certain conditions in respect of liabilities and assets of the company.
As per these conditions, sources added, the Department of PW(R&B) will finalize balance sheet of the JKPCC ending March 2022 and work out details of employees of the company as well as its liabilities and assets
JKPCC shall be maintained as a separate vertical but no new person shall be engaged in it while these employees shall be governed by their own rules and regulations.
Pertinent to mention here that the J&K Projects Construction Corporation Ltd is a Government owned company, which was established in 1965 for execution of all the J&K Government projects above Rs seven crores. The Corporation has its own building complexes both in Jammu and Srinagar and a fleet of Machinery to augment the construction methods on modern lines. It has more than 1100 daily wagers and around 600 permanent employees, including Engineers and Supervisory staff. The Corporation has Civil Units, Mechanical Units, Electrical Units and Quality Control units.
However, the Corporation was not able to fully exploit its potential and failed to show requisite growth and operating margins during the last several years. It had become financially unviable because of huge gap between its earnings and expenditures. The situation could be gauged from the fact that its annual wage bill was approximately Rs 65 crores whereas its total income in a year was around Rs 30-35 crores, which has further reduced in the last four years.
Finding it difficult to manage its finances properly and maintain efficiencies of operations, Government of Jammu and Kashmir recently mooted the proposal to wind up JKPCC and an Office Memorandum in this regard, vide number PWD/ACCT/30/2022-05, dated 21-12-2022 was forwarded by the Public Works (R&B) Department to the Finance Department for its concurrence.
According to the sources, the Finance Department, vide Office Memorandum FD CODE/51/2022-02-1954, has conveyed its concurrence to the PW(R&B) Department proposal on winding up JKPCC subject to certain conditions.
As per the conditions, the Department will finalize the balance sheet of JKPCC ending March 2022 and work out the liabilities and assets of the company. It will also work out details of the employees of the company, including permanent employees, casual workers/DRWs, deputationists).
Further, JKPCC will be maintained as a separate vertical but no new person shall be engaged in it. These employees will be governed by their own rules and regulations.
Concurrence of the Finance Department has cleared decks for winding up of JKPCC after seeking approval of the Administrative Council, the apex decision making body in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.
It may be recalled that the Administrative Council had recently approved the disinvestment of Jammu and Kashmir Cements Limited (JKCL) also as the company was not able to sustain and manage its finances properly.
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