Neeraj Rohmetra
Jammu, July 13: Notwi-thstanding the fact that Central Government had been liberally funding the Annual Plan and Five Year Plan of Jammu and Kashmir Government over the years, the latter is still dependent on former for most of the prestigious projects.
Top official sources disclosed to EXCELSIOR, “several prestigious projects, worth crores had been submitted to different departments for funding purpose”, adding, “the issue was also officially discussed in the recent meeting of Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia at New Delhi. The State Government has submitted a list of several proposals/projects, which were being pursued with Government of India at different levels”.
“Several Ministers of the Congress – National Conference (NC) coalition along with the bureaucrats of their respective departments have been holding parleys with their counterparts in Centre and have submitted proposals for sanction and subsequent funding”, sources remarked.
Citing various instances, official sources said, “during discussion over need to make Panchayats more vibrant and effective institutions, officials told members of Planning Commission that funds were required to make provision for providing honorarium to all the Panchayat members and the matter was being pursued with Government of India (GoI)”.
Talking about the need for enhancing infrastructure and road connectivity, the official document submitted by the State Government to PCI says, “City Mobility Plans had been prepared by the M/s RITES company after serious confabulations and the stage is set for setting up of Mass and Rapid Transport System in the two capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu under Public-Private Partnership mode (PPP) mode. The Central Government’s support is required to fund this proposal”.
“Proposal for 102 road schemes worth Rs 932 crores in militancy hit areas on the analogy of Left Wing Extremists (LWE) is also under consideration of Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI”, the documents says.
While discussing the need for consolidating infrastructure and increasing irrigation potential, the document says, “133 Major and Medium Schemes are to be completed during the financial year 2013-14. Besides, 125 new schemes which are aimed to bridge the gap between the potential created and utilized had been framed and submitted to GoI for sanction and funding.”
Talking about the need to focus on Core Competencies and the need to promote the sustainable tourism, the document says, “for promotion of Religious Tourism, three mega projects have been conceived for implementation that include Sufi circuit for Kashmir, Spiritual Circuit for Jammu and Buddhist Circuit. In case of Jammu and Ladakh circuit, Detailed Project Report (DPR) had been submitted to GoI for sanction and funding while as in case of Kashmir, DPR is under preparation”.
“Besides, four other circuits had been identified along with sub-projects in each Circuit. Central Government help is also required for making Srinagar Airport a full functional International Airport”, sources added.
While discussing the proposals submitted by Special Task Forces set up by MHA, GoI for Jammu and Kashmir, the Government officials have also demanded that a similar package may be necessary for meeting specific requirements in insurgency affected and difficult areas in the Valley.
Emphasizing the need for providing assistance to earthquake victims of Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar district, the officials said, “proposal had been submitted to GoI as funding requirement for works and schemes in these areas as they can’t be met out of State Plan”. In May end, the State Government demanded Rs400 crores worth special Central package for the victims of the May 1 earthquake in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.
With the aim of reviving industries sector, the State Government had also submitted a detailed proposal for upgradation of Electronic Complex Rangreth to GoI, sources commented.
On June 22 this year, the State Cabinet accorded approval for the return and rehabilitation package in favour of Jammu migrants amounting to Rs. 91.56 crore and it was submitted to the Government of India for sanctioning of the package and allotment of funds.
Another interesting fact, sources said, is, “the State had only been able to record an expenditure of Rs 6008.74 crores (82%) against the total annual plan outlay of Rs 7300 crores during the last fiscal year. This is apart from the Rs 700 crore expenditure under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Plan (PRMP) and Special Assistance granted to the State”.
“Officials of State Planning Department had told the PCI incumbents that the non-release of Rs 1226 crores out of the total annual plan allocation was also one of the main reason for low expenditure recorded in the last fiscal. Still, the State managed to spend 98 percent of the actual available funds during the last financial years”, sources asserted.
Sources added for better implementation, Special Monitoring Cell in the CM’s secretariat had been constituted for monitoring of 94 projects worth nearly Rs 1000 crores.
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