Robust mechanism required to track progress
*Poor follow-up, no monitoring, no deadlines
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 11: Nearly two dozen key announcements made in the Budget for the financial year 2024-25 for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir continue to remain confined to files even after the lapse of considerable time, largely due to poor follow-up by the concerned departments.
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What is more disturbing is that even now, officers of these departments are unable to specify any clear timeline for implementation, leaving the public guessing about when, or whether, these much-publicised initiatives will ever see the light of day.
The 2024-25 Budget, presented in Parliament on July 23, 2024, had promised a push across multiple sectors and the announcements were projected as transformative steps aimed at accelerating development and improving governance in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“However, nearly two dozen such announcements are yet to move beyond preliminary paperwork and, in many cases, even basic steps have not been completed”, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “the continued delay has begun to erode public confidence, especially among stakeholders who were expected to directly benefit from these initiatives”.
As far as the Housing and Urban Development sector is concerned, it was announced that Smart Integrated Satellite Townships along the Ring Roads at Jammu and Srinagar would be developed, a pollution abatement project of River Basanter at Samba would be started, an Inter-Modal Station would be developed at Katra in collaboration with the National Highways Authority of India and Master Plans of all 78 cities and towns would be finalised.
However, as per the sources, these announcements have yet to become reality even after the lapse of one-and-a-half years. “Nothing is visible on the ground as far as the Satellite Townships, pollution abatement project and Inter-Modal Station are concerned, while no exercise has been initiated for preparation of Master Plans by the Town Planning Organisation,” they said, adding “what is more intriguing is that draft Master Plans of several towns, which were notified long back, have yet not been finalized”.
Regarding the Tourism and Culture sector, development of Duggar Dani village at Samba with a traditional set-up in the form of a ‘mock village’ and establishment and operationalisation of eight cultural centres were among the announcements. However, both these announcements have not moved beyond papers even after the lapse of considerable time.
In the Cooperative sector, construction and establishment of Mini Super Bazaars at district, village and block levels was the major announcement. But no significant progress has been made in this regard by the concerned department till date. Similar is the fate of the announcement pertaining to the Health sector-making AIIMS, Awantipora functional by March 2025-with sources disclosing that this major health facility is now likely to become operational only by the end of the current year.
“No significant progress has been made as far as smart metering of all electricity connections and massive reduction in AT&C losses are concerned,” sources said. It was announced in the Budget 2024-25 that AT&C losses would be brought down to the desired level by initiating a number of reforms. However, the situation prevailing during the current winter has exposed little progress on this front, with authorities blaming huge AT&C losses for prolonged power curtailments.
As far as the Water Supply and Irrigation sector is concerned, the major announcement was completion of the balance work of the Tawi Barrage during the 2024-25 financial year. However, the ground situation, even after the lapse of several months, presents a different picture and completion of the project is likely to take several more months.
The rapid development of 46 new Industrial Estates to attract investment and create employment opportunities was the major announcement related to the Industries and Commerce sector. However, development is not taking place at the required pace even after the lapse of considerable time, sources said.
Similarly, there are several other announcements pertaining to different sectors which have not become reality due to slackness on the part of the concerned departments of the J&K UT Government.
“There is a need for a comprehensive review of the status of all Budget announcements, along with fixing of responsibility on departments that have failed to act within a reasonable time,” sources stressed, adding “the UT administration must institutionalise a robust monitoring and review mechanism to track the progress of Budget announcements. Monthly or quarterly progress reports, strict deadlines and consequences for non-performance are required as corrective measures”.
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