Investment applications of over Rs 54,000 cr received since Feb 2021
*Says many steps initiated to boost overall development of UT
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 20: In order to give necessary impetus to the industrial development in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, projects worth more than Rs 36,000 crore have been allotted suitable land as against investment applications of more than Rs 54,000 crore. Moreover, several specific steps have been taken to boost general development of the Union Territory.
Giving this information in the Parliament, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that a new Central Sector Scheme was notified on February 19, 2021 for the industrial development of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir with an outlay of Rs 28,400 crore.
“Jammu and Kashmir has received investment applications of more than Rs 54,000 crore under this scheme out of which projects worth more than Rs 36,000 crore have been allotted industrial land by the Government of the Union Territory”, the Minister of State in the MHA Nityanand Rai said while disclosing that various schemes and flagship programmes have been undertaken by the Central Government across the country including Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, the Government has taken several specific steps to boost development of Jammu and Kashmir especially after the abrogation of Article 370.
Stating that progress of projects being implemented in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir under the Prime Minister’s Development Package-2015 has been accelerated, the Minister said that 53 projects pertaining to 15 Ministries are being implemented at a cost of Rs 58,477 crores in various sectors such as roads, power, health, education, tourism, agriculture, skill development etc.
Out of 53 projects, 29 have been completed or substantially completed and the remaining projects are at advanced stage of progress and will be completed either during the current year or next financial year. Under PMDP, 5502 Kashmiri migrants have been provided Government jobs in different departments of Government of J&K.
Under languishing projects programme, 1193 projects worth Rs 1984 crore were completed including 5 projects which were incomplete for more than 20 years, 15 projects for more than 15 years and 165 projects for more than 10 years.
Claiming that the schemes and projects have positively impacted people of Jammu and Kashmir by providing hosts of benefits directly or indirectly, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the budget allocation for the UT of J&K has consistently increased from Rs 80423 crore in 2019-20, Rs 92341 crore in 2020-21, Rs 108621 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 112950 crore in 2022-23 for ensuring all round development.
Disclosing that construction work of 17601 km of road under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) has been completed up to March 2022, which has connected 2074 places, the MHA said that new Banihal tunnel and Chenani Nashri tunnel has been completed and opened to traffic, adding to connect Kashmir with train, Udhampur-Katra section, Banihal-Qazigund section and Qazigund-Baramulla section have been commissioned.
Making mention of several other mega projects, the Minister said that work on two AIIMS, 7 new Medical Colleges, two Cancer Institutes and 15 Nursing Colleges have been expedited and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu made functional. Moreover, in last 2 years, power projects for about 3000 MW capacity have been revived and progress is on track.
Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, household tap water connections have increased from 5.75 lakh households (31%) to 10.55 lakh households (57%) and two districts—Srinagar and Ganderbal have been made “Har Ghar Jal” districts. Moreover, all rural schools, Anganwari Centres and health institutions have been provided with tap water connections and three major irrigation projects— Main Ravi canal (Rs 62 crore), 3rd stage of Tral lift irrigation scheme (Rs 45 crore) and Comprehensive Flood Management Plan of River Jhelum & its Tributaries-Phase-I costing Rs 399.29 crore have been completed.
“The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has carried out recruitment in the public sector from the year 2019 onwards totaling 29,806. In addition, employment for 5.2 lakh persons is estimated to have been created through self-employment schemes from August 2019 up to June 2022”, the MHA said, adding “one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5 lakh per family is also being disbursed to 36,384 displaced families from PoJK, Chhamb and Niabat settled in Jammu & Kashmir”.
The Government of India has further approved similar financial assistance for 5300 families who initially opted to move outside the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir but later returned and settled in Jammu and Kashmir. Financial Assistance of Rs 5.50 lakh per family has also been approved by the Government of India for 5,764 families of West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) who migrated from several areas of West Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition and settled in different parts of Jammu region.
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