Noisy scenes in House as BJP-NC MLAs clash
*91 sq km increase in J&K forest cover: Rana
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Mar 22: Amidst noisy scenes and clash between the BJP and National Conference Members, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly today passed the demands for grants amounting Rs 154531.84 lakh for Forest, Ecology & Environment, Rs 157671.32 lakh for Irrigation & Flood Control Department, Rs 350126.57 lakh for PHE (Jal Shakti) and Rs. 44,299.17 lakh for the Tribal Affairs Department.
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The House passed the demands for grants through a voice vote this evening. Earlier, during the day, the Assembly discussed the demands for grants and Members of the House put forth their views and suggestions.
Winding up the discussion on demands for grants, Minister for Jal Shakti, Forest, Ecology & Environment and Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana, extended gratitude to the Members of the House for their valuable suggestions and constructive observations on the demand for grants.
A verbal clash between the National Conference and BJP MLAs erupted in the House when the Minister was speaking on the grants of Tribal Affairs Department. Javed Rana while speaking on Forest Rights Act said that Tribals including Gujjar- Bakerwals need not to fear, they can settle down on the forest lands which they are occupying for the last over 60-70 years in the Jammu and Kashmir.
A senior BJP Member and former Health Minister, Sham Lal Sharma stood up and objected to the words of NC Minister Javed Rana alleging that Minister was misleading the House over Forest Rights Act. He abruptly said,” J&K is not fiefdom of anybody’s father. The Act has been misquoted by the Minister. Nodoubt, forest rights have been granted to the Tribals by the Parliament but these are for those who do not have the land. The people possessing thousands of Kanals of lands do not come under the purview of this Act,” he asserted.
BJP MLA pleaded the Chair that Minister should be made to correct his words. This led to a tiff between Sham Lal and Javed Rana. Most of the NC Members then stood up in support of their party Minister and clashed with the BJP members including- RS Pathania, Pawan Gupta, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Arvind Gupta, R S Jasrotia and others. The NC Members alleged that BJP was anti-Tribals and do not want that they should benefit with the Forest Rights Act. Both sides raised allegations and counter allegations while the repeated requests of the Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather failed to restore order in the House for about 12 minutes. AIP member Sheikh Khurshid shouting on the BJP members moved towards well of the House but was stopped by the Marshalls, who made him to move back to his seat.
Amidst din in the House Speaker allowed the BJP members Sham Lal and Mankotia to clear their points. The Minister referred to the spirit of the Act which has been passed by the Parliament. Later, CPI(M) Member MY Tarigami intervened and helped the ‘Chair’ to restore order in the House.
While speaking on the Jal Shakti department, Rana said that Government is determined towards providing “Har Ghar Nal Se Jal” to all rural households and is utilizing resources from Jal Jeevan Mission, NABARD and UT Capex to provide 55 litres of clean drinking water per capita daily, conforming to BIS 10000 and 10500 standards.
“In order to achieve this objective, J&K has planned the execution of 3253 Water Supply Schemes at an estimated cost of Rs 13344.25 crore to provide new tap water connections as well as to upgrade the existing connections, provided under erstwhile programs, to make them JJM compliant by raising the new infrastructure as well as retrofitting the existing infrastructure, wherever required,” the Minister said.
Reflecting on the achievements, he informed that major strides have been made in implementation of the Mission during the past 2 ½ years and more than 1400 (43%) Water Supply Schemes have been completed till date and out of remaining 1853 schemes, about 1500 schemes have recorded a progress of more than 50 percent.
Regarding the expenditure incurred, he said that it has picked up from Rs 441 crore on ongoing works in initial 3 years to 6560 on new works, in the past 3 years.
“J&K which languished at the bottom is now figuring at 5th in the overall functionality assessment conducted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI, through a third-party agency. The overall functionality of J&K has improved from 53 percent in the year 2022 to 74 percent in 2024,” he said.
He added that J&K is ranking first in the Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance at the National level.
“All the 22 water testing laboratories at the UT and State Level have been NABL accredited for a robust water quality monitoring mechanism,” he added.
The Minister said that transparency, accountability and quality control mechanism in implementation of the JJM has been given top priority. Rana also gave details about the funds allocated for Water Supply Schemes under other sources like NABARD Schemes (PHE Sector), Water Supply Scheme AIIMS Awantipora and AIIMS Vijaypur.
“The department is purchasing 10 fresh tankers to augment the existing fleet to ensure the department is better equipped to tackle water shortages and meet the needs of our citizens” he maintained.
Talking about the Irrigation and Flood Control Sector (I&FC), he said the department is committed towards expanding the irrigation coverage, supporting the farmers. He said that to increase the area under assured irrigation, we’re collaborating on strategic initiatives, with major irrigation projects funded under PMKSY-AIBP and Minor Irrigation Projects covered under PMKSY HKKP.
Rana further said that under NABARD loan assistance, 12 projects amounting Rs 177 crore have been cleared. These projects comprised 8 irrigation sector projects and 4 flood sector projects.
While talking about the Forest, Ecology & Environment, Rana said that the department is set to achieve the target of planting 150 lakh plants during the year 2024-25 under the programme “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam”, launched by Prime Minister. He said that the department’s continuous efforts have led to positive results, as J & K recorded a net increase of 91.25 sq km in forest and tree cover as per the Indian State of Forest Report 2023.
Regarding implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006, Rana said that 6,058 claims have been settled in J&K, comprising 348 individual and 5,710 community forest rights claims.
To ensure systematic forest land diversion for development activities, cases are processed online through the PARIVESH portal. “So far, 2,775 forest clearance cases have been received, with 1,159 Stage-I approvals and 507 final approvals granted, leading to the diversion of 629.95 hectare,” he said.
The Minister said that the J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) has taken key steps to improve the Ease of Doing Business by extending the consent validity period for industries and adopting a revised industry classification.
“The validity of Consent to Operate has been increased from 8 to 10 years for Orange category industries and from 12 to 15 years for Green category industries, while Consent to Establish is now valid for 5 years, extendable by 2 years. The revised classification, adopted in January 2025, promotes cleaner industries by reclassifying less polluting units to the Green category and placing pesticide formulation units under the stricter Red category,” he said.
Regarding the Tribal Affairs Department, Rana said that the department envisages welfare of tribal population through key schemes and programs. He said that the tentative budget provision for Dharti Abha Janjatiya Gramin Utkarsh Yojana (DA-JGUA) for the financial year 2025-26 is Rs 30.44 crore. “The Scheme included 25 interventions from 17 departments and will initially cover 393 villages in 20 districts with at least 50 percent ST population or 500 ST individuals,” he said.
The Minister said that J&K Tribal Research complex has been established at Khimber, Srinagar with a cost of Rs 11.50 crore which aims to serve as a think tank for tribal development with a focus on research, cultural preservation, capacity building, and awareness programs.
To promote education among the tribal students, the Minister informed that the department operates 28 hostels housing 2,885 students. “Five new hostels are ready to be functional with 25 more hostels under construction at an estimated cost of Rs 89.21 crore, of which, five shall be completed during 2025-26,” he added.
Rana said that six Eklavya Model Residential Schools (ERMS) have been made operational in Poonch, Rajouri, Kulgam, Anantnag and Bandipora and 11 more have been proposed for establishment during 2025-26. He also said that a scholarship amounting Rs 12 crore shall be provided to around 16000 ST students under Post- Matric Scholarship and Rs 2.43 crore to 8100 ST students under pre-matric scholarship (8th & 9th classes ) and Rs 12 crore to 1.5 lakh students under pre-matric category.
Three transit accommodations for the Tribal population at Thannamandi (Rajouri), Dalwas (Ramban) and Dubjan (Shopian) shall be completed during 2025-26 with a cost of Rs 7.95 crore. He said six Mobile Medical Units are being procured at a cost of Rs 4.52 crore. Ten Milk Villages are targeted for completion during 2025-26 with an allocation of Rs 800 lakh covering 410 ST beneficiaries. He said 50 schools in tribal areas shall be upgraded as Smart Schools. The department will undertake steps for completion of the Tribal Bhawan and Museum in Jammu during the year 2025-26.
The cut motions on demands for grants were withdrawn by the MLAs. Later, the House passed the demand for grants moved by Javed Rana by voice-vote.
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