Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 3: The State has landed in the weird situation as the Union Government has pointed out that during temporary restoration of public infrastructure in the aftermath of September last year floods the ceilings fixed for such works in different sectors were not strictly adhered to by the State authorities as such the excess amount to the tune of more than Rs 1000 crore cannot be compensated. However, the State Governor, N N Vohra doesn’t find any justification behind the stance of the Union Government and has conveyed that such a whopping cut at this crucial juncture would create many more problems for the financial crunch hit J&K.
This complex issue, which has shaken the entire bureaucracy of the State, came up for discussion during a high level meeting convened by Mr Vohra this morning. The meeting was attended by Union Home Secretary, Anil Goswami, Joint Secretary MHA Kashmir Affairs, Joint Secretary MHA Border Management, Chief Secretary and Administrative Secretaries of the State.
Mr Vohra was informed about the latest communications from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs mentioning that State has crossed the ceilings fixed for each sector for temporary restoration works in the aftermath of natural calamity.
“We have been told that expenditure incurred on temporary restoration works beyond such ceilings would not be compensated under National Disaster Relief Fund”, the officers of State apprised the Governor.
It was stated in the meeting that such ceilings were neither conveyed to the State nor a formal notification has been issued by the Ministry in this regard as such J&K was completely ignorant about the same. Moreover, the Inter-Ministerial team didn’t raise this issue during visit of the State when the temporary restoration works were going on.
“Disaster Relief Fund guidelines were strictly adhered to as such there was no reason for ignoring the ceilings if any conveyed to the State”, the officers told the meeting.
According to the sources, if this issue is not resolved the State would face grim situation as the cut on account of ceilings would run into more than Rs 1000 crore. “Majority of temporary restoration works have already been inspected and certified by the inter-departmental committees constituted by the respective District Development Commissioners and contractors have started demanding payments”, sources added.
The Governor was also informed that majority of temporarily restored works are being considered as permanent by the Union Government because of interpretation of rules.
Taking serious note of impending financial crisis, the Governor told Union Home Secretary that issue should have been discussed with the State much earlier and creating confusion of such a grave consequences at this juncture would amount to dragging J&K, which is already reeling under financial crunch, to more complex situation.
“No arbitrary decision should be taken in this regard as single penny is of much importance for the State keeping in view the massive devastation it has suffered”, informed the sources privy to the Governor’s viewpoint.
He asked Union Home Secretary to discuss the issue in the Ministry and suggest options so that J&K is bailed out of the looming financial crisis.
According to the sources, the State Government has the option of seeking help under Special Plan Assistance, the hints about which were also given in the meeting.
“Several border issues also came up for discussion in the meeting and progress on each one of them was threadbare assessed by the Governor”, sources said.
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