Implementation of SFC recommendations
Mohinver Verma
JAMMU, May 25: Initiating yet another step towards the implementation of recommendations of State Finance Commission, State Government today constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to consider the reports of the concerned Administrative Departments, which are based on the suggestions of the Commission, and submit proposal to the Cabinet for approval.
Headed by Dr Mahmooda Rahman, former Home Commissioner of the State and ex-Vice Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia University, the State Finance Commission was constituted in the year 2006 to look into regional imbalance or discrimination in the allotment of funds with any region or sub-region of the State and suggest corrective measures for equitable development. The Commission submitted its report to the Government in November 2010 after a delay of more than four years.
After in-depth study of the report in the Finance Department, the recommendations of the Commission were forwarded to all the concerned Administrative Departments for detailed analysis of the suggestions pertaining to the respective departments and to come up with the reports detailing the steps required to be taken for the implementation of the recommendations, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
Initially, the process of examining recommendations at the Administrative Departments remained very slow but later the Government got it expedited by passing necessary directions to all the concerned Administrative Secretaries, sources further said, adding now almost all the departments to which the recommendations of the State Finance Commission pertain have prepared their reports.
“Since there is every possibility of reports of different departments getting overlapped on several recommendations of the SFC, the Government found it imperative to have harmonious view of the reports of all the concerned departments at a single platform”, sources informed.
With the approval of the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, the General Administration Department today issued an order constituting a Group of Ministers (GoM) to consider the reports of the concerned Administrative Departments on the recommendations of SFC.
The GoM has been given the mandate to either make recommendations directly to the Cabinet or set up an expert group for in-depth examination of the proposals emanating from various Administrative Departments before placing the matter before the Cabinet for approval.
Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather is the Chairman of the Group of Ministers while as Minister concerned to which the recommendations of the SFC pertain or the concerned Ministers in case the nature of recommendations is overlapping and Minister of State for Planning and Development are the members of GoM.
It is pertinent to mention here that Government has already engaged experts— S Mahajan, former Secretary Planning and Development Department and G A Qureshi, former Director General, Economics and Statistics to prepare road-map for devolution of funds in the light of recommendations of State Finance Commission.
Besides suggesting ways and means on utilization of State’s finances and other resources equally among all the three regions of the State and identifying neglected and backward areas, which deserve more focus of the Government in terms of development, the Finance Commission has suggested slew of measures vis-à-vis different departments.
Highlighting some of the recommendations of the SFC, sources said that it has suggested setting up of State-level Council to act as think tank on the higher education and advise the Government. It has also recommended that all the campuses of Jammu and Kashmir Universities should be made full fledged varsities.
In each region of the State, minimum of one district should be designated as Education Growth Centre with focus on teaching and research, the SFC has recommended, adding keeping in view the contribution of horticulture in the GSDP of the State, Horticulture University should also be set-up.
The Commission has also suggested evolving a mechanism to ascertain as to which block is educationally backward so that necessary steps could be taken in pursuance to the requirement of such blocks.
Besides in other sectors, the Commission has recommended increased allocation for Jammu region under health sector and elementary education sector in Kashmir Valley. Setting up of an Apex Level Committee for conservation of bio-diversity and wildlife is also one of the recommendations of the Commission. It has also suggested additional focus on the revenue generating sectors.
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