J&K ready with crucial CSS assistance list

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 11: In addition to annual plan worth Rs 7300 crore and Prime Minister’s Re-construction Plan (PMRP) to the tune of Rs 700 crore, the State Government would also seek the Planning Commission help for liberal assistance to various power projects being constructed under PMRP in the Central sector and national projects like Kashmir railway line, double laning of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and survey on railway lines to unexplored areas in tomorrow’s official level plan meeting with the PCI in New Delhi.
Under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), the State would be asking for highest ever Rs 600 crore for MG-NREGA, Rs 58.63 crore for Indira Awas Yojana, Rs 157.8 crore for National Rural Health Mission, Rs 137.6 crore for Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rs 70.6 crore for Mid Day Meal Scheme, Rs 1015 crore for Prime Minister’s Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Rs 5.04 crore for NSAP, Rs 137.8 crore for Integrated Child Development Fund (ICDF), Rs 26.3 crore for National Horticulture Mission and Rs 223 crore for Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Vidhyutikaran Yojana.
Nearly 30 top bureaucrats, almost all Administrative Secretaries besides Heads of Departments of Planning and Finance Department from Jammu and Kashmir have reached New Delhi for tomorrow’s crucial plan meeting at Yojana Bhawan, the headquarters of the Planning Commission of India. The delegation was headed by Chief Secretary Madhav Lal.
The PCI would be represented by the Commission’s senior Member, B K Chaturvedi.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the high level State delegation, which was scheduled to make detailed presentation before the Planning Commission for highest ever Rs 7300 crore worth annual plan for the financial year 2012-13, has prepared a detailed proposal for all Departments to seek assistance under annual plan for them.
“The high level delegation was also in possession of detailed expenditure incurred during last financial year of 2011-12 when the State was allocated Rs 6600 crore worth annual plan’’, sources said, adding that the Departments had utilized almost entire allocation despite limited working season in some parts due to snowfall.
In addition to Rs 7300 crore under annual plan, a 10 per cent hike over the past financial year and Rs 700 crore under PMRP, down from Rs 1200 crore of previous year, the State has also prepared details of the amount it would be seeking under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes, which would be submitted to the Planning Commission by the Administrative Secretaries tomorrow, sources said.
In addition, the State would also be seeking assistance of the Planning Commission for liberal funding of J&K’s major projects including railway line to Kashmir, double laning of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and survey for railway line in certain unexplored areas.
“The work on railway line and double laning of the highway was going apace. The State would like work to go on as per schedule with liberal funding to ensure its timely completion’’, sources said, adding that funding for these projects was being taken up with the Central Government by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah from time to time.
The State bureaucrats would also taken up with the Planning Commission the slow pace of execution of work on power projects taken under PMRP’s Central sector due to low funding.
The PMRP, which was Rs 25,000 crore when approved by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as head of UPA-I Government in 2004, has already surpassed Rs 30,000 crore due to delay in execution of works on the power projects being executed under Central sector in the PMRP.
The Government was of the view that the State, which was facing acute power crisis, could overcome it to some extent, if the power projects being executed by the Central agencies under the Central sector of PMRP, were completed at the earliest.
Sources said the high level State delegation would also take up various other important issued pertaining to development of the State including some new projects which the Central Government could take up in the near future.
After tomorrow’s plan meeting, the State would have resource level meeting with the Planning Commission in which its officials would explain its sources to fund the annual plan worth Rs 7300 crore. After resources meeting, the final meeting would be held either by the end of June or the start of July between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather to clinch the plan.
Sources said the Planning Commission in its first meeting with the State bureaucrats on December 15, 2011 had sought the details of targets of Own Tax Revenue in the State, reforms in different sectors and expenditure of current financial year’s plan. The Planning Commission had expressed satisfaction over all three issues.
The delegation had apprised the Planning Commission that the State’s power revenue was also increasing but a big gap remained between power bill and revenue as it can’t initiate all reforms in one go.
“It was in view of this that the State Government had batted for annual power reforms grant to the tune of Rs 2000 crore for few years till the State managed to bring reforms and improve its revenue’’, sources said, adding that the Planning Department had assured to give a thought to the State’s demand.
Worthwhile to mention here that J&K Government was given Rs 1300 crore worth annual power reforms grant for three years in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. The grant was later stopped as the Government didn’t take significant power reforms then.

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