Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 21: Jammu district was expected to get Rs 106 crore worth annual plan for financial year of 2012-13 in the District Development Board (DDB) meeting of the district being held tomorrow under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Omar happens to be chairman of both Jammu and Srinagar DDBs, the rotational capital districts of the State.
Omar along with his Cabinet colleagues including Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla, Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma and Medical Education Minister RS Chib, all of whom belonged to Jammu district, Political Advisor Devender Rana and some top bureaucrats reached here late this evening from Srinagar to attend tomorrow’s meeting.
All 11 MLAs of Jammu district, Member Parliament, Madan Lal Sharma and MLCs from Jammu district among others would attend the meeting.
Jammu district, the largest in the State in terms of 11 Assembly constituencies, was expected to get Rs 105.91 crore worth plan for 2012-13, official sources told the Excelsior.
This is the highest ever annual plan for any district, they said, adding that during last financial year of 2011-12, the State had been granted Rs 99 crore worth plan.
The Chief Minister in his capacity as the DDB chairman was expected to announce start of work on Fly Over from Vikram Chowk to Satwari by the Economic Re-construction Agency (ERA) and completion of fourth bridge on river Tawi at Bhagwati Nagar in December this year reducing burden of traffic on Canal and other roads.
Approach roads to the bridge from Ware House, Canal Road and other connecting points would also be completed by December, sources said.
Widening of various roads and launch of new Water Supply Schemes would be announced, they added.
On their part, the MLAs of opposition parties were expected to raise the issue of acute power shortage in Jammu district during the summer causing enormous inconvenience to the people.
“We will raise the issue of acute power shortage this summer and bad condition of roads in the DDBs. The Government was totally indifferent to the miserable condition of the people due to prolonged power failure and broken roads’’, some of the Opposition MLAs said.
The MLAs would ask for more power to Jammu district to overcome shortage.
Being the largest Assembly segments, Jammu West held by BJP rebel and former Union Minister Prof Chaman Lal Gupta and Gandhi Nagar represented by Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla, were tipped to get highest plan than other Assembly segments. Jammu City East, held by BJP’s Ashok Khajuria would get lowest of Rs 32 lakh plan as against Rs 1.5 crore of Gandhi Nagar and Jammu West.
Worthwhile to mention here that the State Government had decided that there would be no hike in annual plan of the districts this year during the DDB meetings despite the fact that the State had been granted 10 per cent step-up in the plan for 2012-13 by the Planning Commission of India.
The additional plan for the districts, if required, would be released in November-December during review meetings of the DDBs to be taken by the Chief Minister, who holds charge of the Planning Department.
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